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{UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 






HEAVENLY LIGHT 



FOR 



EARTHLY FIRESIDES. 



" Dayspring of Eternity ! 

Dawn on us this morning-tide, 
Light from light's exhaustless sea, 
Now no more thy radiance hide, 
But dispel with glorious might, 
All our night." 

Von Rosenroth. 



'■ The entrance of thy words giveth light." 

Psalm cxix. 130. 



BY 

REV. W. W." HARSHA, 

PASTOR SOUTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, CHICAGO. 





f t CHICAGO: 

S. M. KENNEDY, PUBLISHER, 194 CLARK STREET. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, tn the year 1868, 
By W. W. HARSHA, 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. 










PKEFACE, 



The object had in view in the preparation of the following 
treatise is indicated in the title : Heavenly Light for 
Earthly Firesides. The attempt is here made to prepare 
a work on the great themes of our holy religion, which, while 
sufficiently full and comprehensive, will not be so elaborate as 
to weary in its perusal those for whom it is chiefly intended. 
The aim of the author has been to write for the common 
mind ; to prepare a work upon the great leading doctrines of 
Christianity for the unlearned — for those who constitute the 
far larger proportion of the inhabitants of every land. He 
has not intended this as a text-book for the learned and crit- 
ical. These have at hand the larger and more exhaustive 
works on theology — works which seldom find their way to 
the firesides, where it is hoped these pages will be welcome. 
While, however, it is true that we have written chiefly for 
the unlearned, we would not intimate that there is no food in 
these pages for cultivated minds. It is impossible, perhaps, 
to write upon the great themes of our holy religion for the 
mature intellect, without the presentation of much upon which 
even the learned may, with profit, dwell. Theological stu- 
dents, too, it is believed, may obtain help from this work in 
determining how to discuss, before mixed congregations, the 
subjects which must forever form the staple of their dis- 
courses ; for though profound metaphysical argument may be 
comprehended in the class-room and by select audiences, the 
young minister soon learns that, before a popular assembly, his 



IV PREFACE. 

usefulness lies in simplifying, as far as possible, the truths he 
would convey. 

The necessity for such a 'work as this has long been felt, not 
only by the writer, but by many of the most judicious pastors 
and divines whom he has had the privilege to consult. The 
united judgment has been, that a work compact and clear in 
its statements, logical and scriptural, imbued with the spirit 
of true devotion, not too diffuse and yet not too concise, not 
too learned and yet not wanting in research, not strictly crit- 
ical and yet recognizing the conclusions of a reverent criti- 
cism, was a desideratum — a necessity — and would not only 
find readers at the fireside, but would prove a valuable assist- 
ant to teachers in the Sabbath School, and be a welcome com- 
panion to students in the Bible Class. 

So far as possible, and for obvious reasons, all mere techni- 
cal terms, and learned and classical phrases and quotations, 
have been omitted from the following pages. The effort has 
been to present these great truths in the plainest language 
possible, illustrating them, so far as it could be done, by com- 
parisons drawn from every-day life, and from well known 
facts written upon the face of the material universe. The 
aim has likewise been to avoid all fanciful speculations, and 
the discussion of mere theories, however plausible or probable. 
It has also been the aim to say as little as possible of exploded 
heresies, and to notice existing errors in theology only when 
fidelity to truth would have rendered silence inexcusable. 

Some will be disappointed in not seeing in these pages their 
familiar and cherished arguments and proofs, and others may, 
perhaps, be surprised to find so little that is new. The first 
should be reminded that much has been omitted for the sake 
of brevity ; prolixity being especially objectionable in those 
who write for the common mind ; and the second are asked 
to remember that, in a field so often trodden, it is hardly to be 
expected that we should find a spot which bears not the foot- 
print of some one who has gone before. 



PREFACE. V 

As to the authorities consulted, we confess to the free use 
of all the works on theology within our reach, following none 
servilely; and, when quoting from any, giving, in the proper 
place, due credit. The aim has been to subject the opinions 
of all, as well as to subordinate our own, to the one only infal- 
lible authority — the will of the Holy Ghost, as unfolded in 
the Scriptures of Divine Truth. We acknowledge no ambi- 
tion prompting to the utterance of any sentiment simply be- 
cause we conceived it to be new. We have desired to know 
and express only the mind of the Master. May he approve of 
this humble effort to glorify his name. 

We can not avoid the expression of a sincere regret that the 
pressure of the many cares under which these pages have 
been written, has seriously interfered with their literary finish. 
It is hoped, however, that no reader will deny himself the 
pleasure of studying the glorious themes here discussed be- 
cause of any untidiness in the dress in which they appear. 
Beauty is not to be ignored, though occasionally detected in 
a hasty toilet. 

Chicago, January, 1868. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

The existence of a Supreme Being assumed in Scripture. This does 
not forbid a consideration of the proofs. Utility of a review of 
the argument. The evidence not physical, nor mathematical, but 
moral. Three lines of argument open to us, to wit: the metaphy- 
sical, the phenomenal, and the scriptural. The metaphysical 
argument stated, but not pursued. The phenomenal argument 
stated. Phenomena of nature : presence of universal law. Law 
presupposes a law-giver. Practical suggestions ... 13 

CHAPTER II. 

The argument from phenomena continued. Facts presented, demon- 
strating the existence of a moral governor. Appeal to individual 
consciousness and to general experience. The history of the 
world and the preservation of the church proclaim a moral gov- 
ernor. Conclusions of a practical nature suggested by the discus- 
sion 27 

CHAPTER III. 

The scriptural argument for the divine existence, not the presentation 
of proof texts from the Bible. The existence of the book known as 
the Bible an overwhelming argument for the being of a God. 
The harmony of scripture utterances compared with the conflict 
among philosophers, statesmen, and writers upon political econo- 
my. The Scriptures evidently the product of one controlling 
mind. Variety in unity, and unity in variety, in Scripture, as in 
nature, demonstrating for all parts of the sacred word an identity 
of origin 45 

CHAPTER IV. 

The scriptural argument continued. Contents of the sacred volume 
examined. The character of God as here revealed. The Creation ; 
the fall of man; necessity of regeneration; the atonement; holi- 
ness in order to happiness ; resurrection of the body ; future general 
judgment; heaven and hell; the majesty and perfection of the 
moral law; the sermon on the mount; the Lord's Prayer and the 
golden rule — considered. The manifestly superhuman origin of 
such doctrines and teachings demonstrate the Divine existence. 61 



Vlll. CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

The scriptural argument continued. Proof of the Divine existence 
derived from prophecy — an impregnable position. The force of 
the argument admitted by infidels and atheists. The prophecies 
numerous, clear, specific, and certainly written at the times pur- 
ported. Prophecies uttered in the Garden of Eden ; concerning 
the deluge;. the three sons of Noah; the twelve sons of Jacob; 
concerning Cyrus, the Medo-Persian Prince ; the four great dynas- 
ties of the East — the Assyrian, Medo-Persian, Macedonian, and 
Roman — and the kingdom of Christ; considered. All literally 
fulfilled 77 

CHAPTER VI. 

The scripture argument continued. Proof from miracles adduced. 
What are miracles? Have such works been wrought? Parting of 
the waters of the Red Sea and the Jordan; the stream brought 
from the rock at Horeb ; Joshua's command which stayed the sun ; 
the resurrection of Lazarus, and similar events, considered. May 
we believe the record that these acts have been performed? 
Hume's celebrated argument considered, and its fallacy exposed. 
Solemn practical conclusions reached through this discussion. 95 

CHAPTER VII. 

Having demonstrated the Divine existence, the inquiry is here raised 
whether God has made a revelation of his will to man. The pro- 
babilities considered. If there be a revelation, where is it found ? 
What is inspiration ? How do we prove the inspiration of the 
Bible? Nothing improbable in inspiration. The sacred writers 
claim it for themselves, and the contents of Scripture strongly 
favor the claim. The wondrous knowledge of the human heart as 
displayed in Scripture, and the adaptability of the doctrines and 
precepts of Scripture to human wants, considered. Practical sug- 
gestions 113 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The Sacred Canon. The Old Testament. How do we know that the 
books now constituting the Old Testament Scriptures — no more, 
no less — are the very Word of God ? The probability is wholly 
in favor of the present books. The circumstances under which 
they "were written secured for them the highest respect and care. 
The Jews exercised great vigilance to guard their purity. Christ 
never accused them of corrupting the sacred text. The Saviour 
accepted the Old Testament Scriptures and quoted from them. 
The catalogues made at different times proof of the genuineness 
of the present Scriptures 133 



CONTENTS. IX. 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Sacred Canon. The New Testament. Easier to prove the genu- 
ineness of comparatively modern writings than of the more ancient. 
These several works were in circulation while the reputed writers 
still lived. The early church received the Scriptures as we have 
them. Orgen, Eusebius, Athanasius, Cyril, Epiphanius, Gregory 
of Nazianzen, Philastrius, Rufinus, Augustin, Dyonisius the Ar- 
copagite, the councils of Laodicea and of Carthage, testify to the 
present canon. All the leading writers of the early ages quote 
from these books. Even the enemies of religion, Celsus, Porphry, 
and Julian, bear witness to the Scriptures as we have them, while 
all the early versions are substantially the same as ours . 151 

CHAPTER X. 

The mode of the divine existence. Having seen that God exists, we 
now inquire how? The doctrine of the Trinity stated. This, 
though above, is not contrary to reason. Illustrations drawn from 
the analogy of nature. Unity in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, an 
all but universal law of nature. The material world a unit, and 
yet composed of three kingdoms, the Animal, Vegetable, and 
Mineral. Every separate unit in nature covers a plurality, and 
usually a trinity. The unity of God perfect and a triune distinction 
perfect. See the analogy of nature in the case of the sunbeam, 
viewed either as a unit, or as a trinity when divided by the prism. 
Practical reflections 173 

CHAPTER XI. 

The mode of the Divine existence continued. The Scripture argument. 
The plural form of the names and titles of Jehovah and of the 
personal pronouns considered. Proof from the xlv. and ex. Psalms, 
and from the xlviii. of Isaiah, considered. The record of the con- 
ception, of the scene at the baptism of Christ, of the words of 
Christ in the xv. of John's Gospel, of the great commission, and 
of the formula known as the Apostolic Benediction, taken as proof 
of the Trinity 189 

CHAPTER XII. 

The Divinity of Christ. The importance of the subject. If Christ is 
not God, then the world has no Saviour. To admit that he is the 
greatest and best of created beings will not do. Proofs of Christ's 
divinity adduced. Divine names and titles conferred upon him. 
Divine acts ascribed to him. Divine honor and worship rendered 
him. Divine relationships and dignities assigned him. Divine 
qualities and attributes said to belong to him, even Spirituality, 
Infinity, Eternity and Unchangeableness, which belong to God 
only. Solemn practical thoughts 209 



X. CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Objections to Christ's supreme divinity considered. That the Scrip- 
tures often speak of Christ as inferior to the Father, readily ad- 
mitted. Two methods by which this is explained. Christ pos- 
sessed a perfect human nature, and was, in this respect, of course, 
inferior to the Father. He also sustained to the Father an official 
relation, in which he is subject to him. As God, he is always fully 
the Father's equal. As Mediator, he sustains an official relation 
to the Father, and is under his control 227 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The world's rejection of Christ noticed. Nations not unwilling to 
acknowledge God in their constitutions, laws, and oaths, whence 
then the wide-spread aversion to Christ} This feeling one of 
positive hatred, and utterly irrational in view of Christ's relations 
to the world. It is to be accounted for only on the ground of man's 
native depravity, the heart's " desperate wickedness." Napoleon's 
opinion of Christ cited, a remarkable testimony from one of the 
most remarkable of men. Practical conclusions . . . 243 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Holy Spirit. His personality denied. This error exposed by an 
appeal to Scripture. He is said " to come," " to reprove," " to 
speak," " to guide," " to hear," " to testify," " to search," and " to 
intercede." "Mind "and mental operations are ascribed to him. 
Men are said to " lie," to him, to " grieve " him, to " blaspheme " 
against him. The great commission to the Apostles, the formula 
for baptism, and the Apostolic Benediction, prove the personality 
of the Holy Ghost. The work of the Spirit considered. He is the 
Vicegerent of Deity among men. He restrains from sin, leads to 
the light of truth, convinces of guilt, reveals Christ the only 
Saviour, sanctifies and seals the soul for eternal felicity . . 261 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Divine attributes. The knowledge of God implies a knowledge 
of his perfections. No intelligent Christianity without this. All 
leading errors spring from deficiency here. Infidelity in its various 
forms, Rationalism, Universalism, etc., have their origin in defect- 
ive or perverted views of God's attributes. Careful study of the 
Divine perfections necessary to growth in grace. " The noblest 
study of mankind " not man, but God. This must be the study of 
his attributes in detail. All the perfections common to Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost 279 

CHAPTER XVII. 

What are the Divine attributes? The lists adopted by Dick, Dwight, 
the Westminster Assembly, and others, considered. Substantial 



CONTENTS. XI. 

harmony both among ancient and modern writers upon this sub- 
ject. We here recognize ten attributes : Infinity, Eternity, Un- 
changeableness, Knowledge, Wisdom,' Power, Holiness, Justice, 
Goodness, and Truth. Various classifications considered . 293 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Attributes continued. Infinity, Eternity, and Unchangeableness. What 
do we understand by Infinity as a divine perfection? It includes 
Incomprehensibility, Immensity, and Omnipresence. Scripture 
proofs presented. Eternity of God. He is without beginning or 
end of days. Confirmed both by reason and revelation. God's 
self-existence follows upon the proof of his eternity. Unchange- 
ableness. God's freedom from any actual or possible change. 
Scripture proofs. Practical deductions .... 305 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Attributes continued. Knowledge and Wisdom of God. Why we 
distinguish between them. Knowledge of God. Scripture proofs 
and Illustrations. Wisdom of God. What is it? Displays itself 
in Creation, Providence, and Grace. Practical thoughts . 319 

CHAPTER XX. 

Attributes continued. Power of God. Ascribed to Jehovah in Scrip- 
ture, and exhibited in all his works. Illustrations of its infinity 
introduced, from the fact of creation, the number and variety of 
objects created ; might needful to uphold creation ; the wonderful 
forces of nature, etc. Exhibited also in the moral government of 
the world and the salvation of the soul 333 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Attributes continued. Holiness. What is it? The absence of all evil, 
and possession of every excellence. It is displayed in the creation 
of angels and men with holy natures, in the excellence of the moral 
law; in God's moral government; in the life of Christ; in the 
demands of the Gospel ; and in the sufferings of Christ. Solemn 
practical inferences ......... 351 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Attributes continued. Justice. What is it? That disposition which 
renders God infinitely righteous and equitable in himself and in 
his acts. Scripture proofs adduced. God must be just. The 
exercise of this attribute extends to all the relations and conditions 
of created beings. Objections considered. Practical reflections 367 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Attributes continued. Goodness defined. Under this general term 
included grace, mercy, kindness, pity, compassion, forbearance, 



Xli - CONTENTS. 

patience, long-suffering, and love. The boundless field for the 
display of this perfection considered. Objections noticed and 
answered. The goodness of God a continued demand upon the 
love and service of all intelligent creatures .... 381 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Attributes continued. Truth. This perfection clearly taught in Scrip- 
ture. Reason assures us that Deity must be true and faithful. His- 
tory confirms the teachings of Scripture and deductions of reason. 
Practical conclusions 395 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Concluding chapter. God's sovereignty and man's freedom. Sove- 
reignty of God inferable from the perfection of his attributes. A 
doctrine against which many object. Yet reason has always 
declared that sovereignty resides some where. All intelligent per- 
sons have confessed that their ability is limited. All are made at 
times to feel a superior power ; call it chance, or fate, or what we 
may, the thing exists. The Bible lodges this sovereignty with 
God. To this none can or will object who realizes that God can 
do no wrong. Objections considered and answered. God can be 
sovereign and man free and accountable. Scripture examples. 
Concluding appeal to readers 411 



CHAPTER I. 



" Thee, Father, first they sung, Omnipotent, 
Immutable, Immortal, Infinite, 
Eternal King." Milton. 

" He that cometh to God must believe that he is." — Heb. xi. 6. 



The first verse of the Bible assumes the existence 
of a God. " In the beginning God created the hea- 
vens and the earth." In general, therefore, we may- 
follow, with safety, this example of the Scripture, 
and assume, in all theological discussions, the exist. 
ence of a Supreme Being — and yet we are not 
deprived of the privilege of going back of all assump- 
tions and arraying before our minds the proofs of 
the existence of the Divine Being. Though absolute 
atheism is not a widely prevalent sin among men ; 
though few are bold enougli to assert, and attempt to 
establish, the non-existence of a Supreme Ruler — 
King — Creator — still it is well, at times, for our 
own satisfaction, to review the grounds of our belief, 
and to strengthen the confidence of others, in this 
great fundamental truth of our holy religion. To 
this end the first few chapters of this work will be 
devoted. 



1 4 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

Attention is, however, here called to two or three 
preliminary considerations, as necessary to a proper 
understanding of the subsequent discussion : — 

1. No one need expect to find the proofs upon 
which we depend, in demonstrating the existence of 
God, of the kind known as physical or mathematical. 
Physical proof is that by which we reach conclusions 
touching physical facts. Is it a fact that iron is 
hard ? that ice is cold ? that fire will burn % that 
water is a fluid ? that marble is a solid ? To answer 
all such questions we have certain physical avenues 
open to us. We prove that iron is hard by the 
touch. We come into physical contact with it ; and 
so of all this class of questions. 

2. Mathematical proof is that by which we determine 
certain questions susceptible of mathematical demon- 
stration. Thus the question, " If five is one-fourth 
of twenty, what part is it of forty?" can only be 
answered by a mathematical formula. This, and all 
like questions, can be answered by the aid of figures, 
and, when we have reached our conclusion, we say 
that we have proved the matter mathematically. 

3. The proof, however, by which we arrive at a 
conclusion touching the existence of God is neither 
physical nor mathematical, but moral. The question, 
" Is there a God ?" not pertaining either to physics 
or mathematics, can not be determined by physical 
or mathematical proof. It is a moral problem, and 
can only rest upon moral evidence. Thus, in demon- 
strating the great fact of the Divine existence, we 
take into consideration certain undeniable appear- 



FOR EA R THL Y FIRESIDES. 1 5 

ances, results, and phenomena in the universe of God 
— the domain of mind and matter — and reasoning 
from these, we reach a conclusion which we call a 
moral certainty. We have never seen God — we 
have never touched him. We have not come, at any- 
time, into contact with him by any physical sense ; 
nor have we proved, nor can we prove, his existence 
by any mathematical formula. And yet we have 
demonstrated, to our own satisfaction and the satisfac- 
tion of others, by a distinct kind of proof, that God 
does indeed exist. 

4. This third kind of evidence — the moral — has 
been very greatly undervalued by the superficial and 
unthinking. These have demanded, in their sensu- 
ousness, physical or mathematical proof of the being 
of a God. They have claimed that they could not 
be satisfied with moral evidence where a matter 
of such transcendent interest was involved. 

The unreasonableness of this demand, under the 
circumstances, will appear to every intelligent mind, 
for it is a well-known and universally-conceded fact, 
that the whole world admits, just as readily and just 
as fully and cheerfully, conclusions resting upon 
moral evidence only, as they do those which are sup- 
ported by physical or mathematical proof. Thus, no 
sane person has any more doubts of the existence of 
his own mind, and that with that mind he reasons, 
remembers, wills, imagines, fears, loves and hates, 
than that iron is hard, that ice is cold, that fire burns, 
that gold is yellow, or that five is one-fourth of 
twenty and one-eighth of forty, or that the three 



i6 



HE A VENL Y LIGHT 



angles of a triangle are equal to two right angles. 
Every man reaches this satisfactory conclusion touch- 
ing his own mind, not because he has ever seen it, or 
handled it, or measured it, or weighed it. He has 
the moral evidence of its existence, and he asks no 
other, or better. If you were to attempt to convince 
a man that he had. no mind, because he could not 
demonstrate its existence by physical or mathematical 
proof, he would, most likely, pronounce you insane. 

Thus, likewise, no human being has ever traveled 
out into space, to demonstrate, by actual exploration 
and measurement, that it is limitless ; that it has no 
end ; that it is infinite — and yet what intelligent 
person doubts this fact ? Who is so insane as to 
declare, " I will not believe in the infinitude of space 
until I have the matter placed beyond dispute by 
physical or mathematical proofs ?" The truth is, we 
have arrived at this conclusion through moral evi- 
dence ; and no other kind — no amount of other 
proof — could make the fact more certain to our 
minds. The same is true of the doctrine of the soul's 
immortality, and of the existence of a future state. 
These lie in the mind as moral certainties. We fully 
believe them, and unhesitatingly accept them, not 
because we have physical or mathematical proof that 
they are true ; but because we have been brought to 
a conclusion by another kind of evidence, just as 
satisfactory to the mind. 

These remarks are deemed necessary, inasmuch as 
some — especially the young — are liable to be misled 
by the insane demand for a species of evidence 



FOR EARTHL T FIRESIDES. 1 7 

touching moral problems, which, in the very nature 
of the case, can not be had; and which, even if it 
could be furnished, would be of no special value in 
the premises. As to all these great moral problems, 
the moral evidence is all-sufficient. 

And now, without detaining our readers further 
with these preliminary questions, we proceed to lay 
before them the proofs of the Divine existence, so 
far as we deem it needful in this work. 

And here let it be observed, that these proofs 
may be presented under three general heads : 
I. Those that are metaphysical. 
II. Those that are phenomenal. 
III. Those that are Scriptural. 
The metaphysical argument for the being of a God 
may be briefly stated thus : 

We take, as a starting point, certain principles 
necessarily involved in the laws of the human mind 
— of human intelligence — and we say, from the 
existence of these principles, we are driven to the 
conclusion that there is a first cause, to be known and 
recognized as God. For instance, we find in the soul 
of man, and as a part of itself, ideas of infinity, 
eternity and immensity, and as the soul itself is not 
endowed with these attributes — as it is neither infi- 
nite, eternal nor limitless — it is argued that the 
conception or idea of these perfections points to a 
being who does possess them — and this being is 
God. The argument here is simply this : a stream 
never rises higher than its source, and will rise as 
high as its fountain ; but the soul, in the conception 
2 



i8 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



of these ideas, rises confessedly above itself, and has 
glimpses of its fountain — God, the author of its being. 

Another metaphysical statement which argues the 
being of a God, may be made thus : 

We see existences all around us, which the mind 
at once pronounces effects. Thus the world, with all 
its material contents, animate and inanimate ; the 
planets which roll in space ; and even the soul of 
man, with all its wondrous powers, are, without hesi- 
tation, declared to be the production of a power 
above themselves. The spontaneous, the unforced, 
judgment of mankind is, that all these things are 
effects. They were produced by some one. But a 
cause and an effect can not be the same. An effect, 
in other words, can not be its own cause. The thing 
produced can not be its own producer. Therefore, 
all these things, of which we have any knowledge as 
effects — all, indeed, by which we are surrounded — 
must have had a cause outside of themselves, and 
this cause must be the self-existent and uncreated 
God. From this conclusion there is no escape. It 
is founded upon what the minds of all the dispas- 
sionate and unbiassed will regard as a necessary law 
of human consciousness. 

As, however, this metaphysical argument is some- 
what abstruse, and as the primary design of this 
discussion is to present these great truths in a form 
as popular as possible, we will not dwell at greater 
length upon this point, but will pass to consider 

II. The phenomenal argument in favor of the 
Divine existence. This, as its name purports, is the 



FOR EAR TIIL T FIRESIDES. 1 9 

argument drawn from the various phenomena in the 
universe, of which we can, as intelligent beings, take 
cognizance. 

1. There are the phenomena of natwe. Under 
this head we include the movements of the heavenly- 
bodies ; the order and harmony which characterize 
their every change ; the revolution of the earth, and 
distant planets, on their own axes ; and also their 
revolution around their central suns ; and all the 
glorious displays of adaptation and fitness which 
distinguish the being of every material thing through- 
out the universe of God, so far as known to us. 

Now, throughout the whole physical and material 
domain, we can but be impressed with the manifesta- 
tions of law every where found — of law to which 
every material existence is, by its very being, subject- 
ed, whether it be the mote that floats in the sunbeam, 
or the mysterious comet which careers, with all but 
incredible velocity, through space. Every where we 
discover the presence of law — fixed, settled, deter- 
mined — as one of the grand, invariable phenomena 
which mark the material universe. It is, as is well 
known, by the universal law of gravitation that the 
universe is bound together, and by this law all the 
motions of the heavenly bodies are regulated. It is 
in strict accordance with fixed and certain laws that 
all growth is produced, whether of plants or animals. 
It is by fixed and certain laws that all the elements 
of nature are compounded, and their usefulness 
determined. Water, for every eight parts of oxygen 
has one part of hydrogen. This is the exact and 



2 O HE A VENL T LIGHT 

invariable proportion of its constituent elements, the 
world over, and throughout the ages. Disregard 
this law and water disappears. Seven parts of oxy- 
gen to two of hydrogen — or six of one and three 
of the other — or any other proportions or combina- 
tions would utterly fail to give you this necessary 
agent. 

So, likewise, the air we breathe is composed of a 
certain fixed number of parts of oxygen, and a cer- 
tain fixed number of parts of nitrogen; vary this 
combination one iota — change it by a measure ever 
so minute — and you have not air, but a mixture 
which will be deadly in its nature — one which can 
not long be breathed either by man or beast. So, 
too, it is in strict accordance with fixed laws that all 
changes take place, both in the inward constitution, and 
the outward form and appearance of things. If a block 
of wood is burned to ashes in the open air, or changed 
to charcoal by smothered combustion in the heaped 
pit, or allowed slowly to rot beneath the action of 
summer's suns and rains, and winter's frosts and 
snows, it is through the operation of law that these 
various changes are effected. It is by law that the 
winds blow, that the tides ebb and flow, that rains 
descend, that vapors exhale, that rivers roll, that the 
earth brings forth her teeming products, and that 
animal and vegetable existences are perpetuated. 
By law life begins, is sustained, and ended. By law 
intellectual power is developed, mind controlled, 
thought governed, and all mental processes effected. 
It is in accordance with law — fixed, certain, definite 



FOR EAR TIIL T FIRESIDES. 2 1 

— that we behold all effects produced around us, 
whether in the domain of the physical or spiritual. 
This even infidels and atheists are willing to admit. 
And now the question arises, Can there be laio wit/o- 
out a law-giver? Can it be that all things, animate 
and inanimate, physical and spiritual, vegetable, 
animal and mineral, exist only in accordance with 
clearly established rules of order, and laws of being, 
and yet all this order be without a great controlling 
mind to establish it, and all this law be without an 
author ? Who can believe this ? Reason cries with 
a voice which will not be hushed, "All this law pro- 
claims, with trumpet tongue, a high and glorious 
source from whence it proceeds." Every faculty of 
man's soul, if not crushed into silence by the mill- 
stone of atheistic stupidity, utters continually, "There 
must be a God, since there is law every where. All 
the phenomena of nature being controlled by it, and 
all her operations being governed by it, there must 
be a God above all — before all — higher, mightier, 
more glorious than all — to whom all this law and 
order distinctly point, and of whom they most 
emphatically speak." Yes, 

" God hath a presence, and that ye may see 
In the folds of the flower, the leaf of the tree, 
In the sun of the noon-day, the star of the night, 
In the storm cloud of darkness, the rainbow of light, 
In the waves of the ocean, the furrows of land, 
In the mountain of granite, the atom of sand : 
Turn where you may, from the sky to the sod, 
And where law is, you have a clear record of God." 



2 2 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

The argument, then, for the Divine existence, as 
drawn from the phenomena of universal law in 
nature, must now be clearly before the mind of the 
reader. If any further illustration of this truth 
were needed, the following might suffice : 

Suppose you were shipwrecked, and cast upon a 
distant island, among a people whose language you 
did not understand, and of whose manners and cus- 
toms you were wholly ignorant. But suppose, that 
upon observation, you were to discover that every 
thing among this strange people was conducted in 
the most orderly manner ; that the rights of all were 
respected ; that strong restraints upon the commission 
of crime were every where apparent ; that whenever 
offences occurred, the guilty were promptly arrested 
and punished ; and that every where the presence of 
law was visible ; law — not dormant, but active and 
vigorous — performing its functions and filling its 
allotted sphere of duty — what would be your con- 
clusion? Would it not be that there must be a king, 
president, governor, or chief, some ruling mind, or 
some governmental authority or power, to which, or 
to whom, all this was to be referred % Would you 
ever dream that all this beautiful order was the result 
of mere chance — of a " fortuitous concurrence of 
circumstances ?" Surely, no ! The facts before you 
would warrant you in coming to but one conclusion 
— your reason would allow you to come to no other. 
You might not yet have seen this king or governor — 
you might not have heard that there was such a being 
in existence — and yet his existence would be demon- 



FOR EAR THE T FIRESIDES. 2 3 

strated to you, with infallible certainty, by the law 
and order, which must have had their origin in him. 
So with our God. The prevalence of universal law 
and order proclaims, with a voice which can not be 
mistaken, that he exists, though eye of man hath 
never rested upon him. 

2. We can not, however, close this chapter without 
a brief consideration of an argument upon which 
much stress has been laid, and which may not be 
without interest to the general reader. It falls prop- 
erly under this division of our subject, and has been 
called the argument for the Divine existence drawn 
from the marks of design in the universe. 

We can not fail to see that every thing upon which 
our eye falls, exhibits marks of being designed for 
some useful end or purpose. Thus water is evidently 
designed to act as the great cleansing element in 
nature, and also to quench the thirst of man and beast. 
The atmosphere is clearly intended to promote respi- 
ration, and also to act as the medium of conveying 
sounds from ear to ear. The eye was manifestly 
planned for sight ; the ear for hearing ; the lips and 
tongue for articulation ; the palate for tasting ; the 
stomach for digesting the food, and the heart for 
propelling the blood. So the hands, the feet, the 
brain, the liver — every organ of the physical frame 
— bears the undeniable marks of being designed for 
a purpose. They do, each, subserve an end, and that 
end was evidently not designated by mere chance, 
but was manifestly the result of an intelligent plan. 
And not only is this true of man's physical frame, 



24 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

in all its organs and parts, Ibut is also true of every 
object in the universe, of which we have any know- 
ledge. In the vegetable kingdom, some plants and 
shrubs and flowers have medicinal properties. The 
wood of some trees is good for fuel, and of some for 
dyeing, and of others for building. In the mineral 
kingdom we find metals of various kinds, as iron, 
copper, silver, platinum and gold, each having, in 
the economy of nature, a distinct purpose and end to 
fill. The same is true of all the existences in the 
animal kingdom. The horse, the ox, the cow, the 
dog, the cat, the fowls in our yards, the birds of the 
air, and the fishes of the sea, all are seen to have a 
place to fill, an end to subserve, in the economy of 
nature. Each exists through a manifest purpose — 
a foregoing design or plan. It would be evidently 
absurd to say that it was merely by chance or acci- 
dent that the horse was useful ; that fowl and fish 
were good for food; that coal and wood, when 
subjected to the action of fire, would warm our 
bodies, and cook our victuals, and propel our 
machinery ; and that iron and brass were adapted to 
the manufacture of implements of utility for agricul- 
ture and the mechanic arts. The mind of man 
instinctively rejects the proposition to refer this 
adaptation of means to ends to chance or accident, 
and demands a better reason for what is seen to be 
a universal law in nature. 

Now, the argument, from all that is observed 
touching design in the universe, is this : Wherever 
there is a design, there must he a designer — a plan 



FOR EAR TIIL T FIRESIDES. 2 5 

presupposes one who plans — a purpose bespeaks one 
who purposes. The adaptation of any object to a 
specified end, implies, necessarily one who adapted 
it to that end. The mind, as by instinct, thus rea 
sons. We can not avoid this conclusion, except by 
doing violence to our better judgment and the mind's 
intuitive perceptions. You see, for instance, a 
machine whose end or use you discover to be the 
cutting of the grain upon our fields. This end is 
admirably subserved by it. This is manifestly the 
specific purpose for which it was made. Now what 
is the conclusion ? that it was made by something 
we call accident ? that it was the product of blind 
chance ? O, no. We say, at once, " An intelligent 
mind devised it ; planned it ; adapted it to this very 
end. It had a maker who could exercise forethought, 
who had skill and wisdom, and who could adapt 
means to ends." 

The whole universe, then, being filled with the 
marks of wise design — of the skillful adaptation of 
certain objects to specified ends — we conclude that 
some great, controlling mind has ordered it all — 
devised it all — planned it all — and that that mind 
is God's. 

We would not bring this chapter to a close without 
presenting for the consideration of the reader a few 
practical thoughts. And 

1st. It requires no protracted consideration to con- 
vince the unprejudiced that we have entered upon 
the study of a subject, than which none can be more 
solemn or more important. To know God, the author 



26 



HE A VENL T LIGHT, ETC. 



of our being, the fountain of all our blessings, the 
source of all our mercies, the glorious self-existent 
originator of life, the gracious upholder of all that 
he has created, must certainly be the very highest 
attainment to which a creature can aspire. How 
can one lay claim to intelligence who is ignorant of 
that Being to whom he owes his very existence ? 
How can one hope to serve and worship God with 
acceptance who has either no conception, or but an 
imperfect one, of his character ? How can we " glo- 
rify God in our bodies and our spirits," — which is 
manifestly our " reasonable service " — if we know 
him not ? And how can we hope to share hereafter 
in the glory and blessedness found alone in his pres- 
ence, if we are ignorant, while here, of his perfections ? 
But 

2d. It must be manifest to all, that in the study 
of themes confessedly so high, so far above us, we 
shall need the constant aid and guidance of God 
himself. As God only knows his own nature, so he 
only can reveal it to others. In his light only shall 
we see clearly. Let, then, the prayer of every reader 
be, " Lord open thou my mind to receive the truth ; 
enlarge my understanding ; strengthen my imagina- 
tion ; exalt my groveling perceptions ; infuse new 
vigor into my reasoning powers, that I may attain to 
a better knowledge of thy glorious character. Be 
thou my teacher, that I may know thee, whom to 
know aright is life eternal." 



CHAPTER II. 



" Infinite God ; thou great, unrivaled one ! 
Whose glory makes a blot of yonder sun ! 
Compared with thine how dim his beauty seems ! 
How quenched the radiance of his golden beams!" 

Cowper. 

"The scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter." — Ps. xlv. 6. 



It was remarked in the last chapter, that in entering 
upon a consideration of the proofs of God's existence 
we were not to look for physical or mathematical 
evidence of this great truth ; for, this being neither 
a physical nor a mathematical fact, could not be 
demonstrated by either of those kinds of evidence. 
Being a moral problem, it must be proved by a resort 
to what is termed moral evidence. That is, we are 
to take into consideration certain facts, appearances 
and phenomena within us and around us, and reason- 
ing from these, we reach a conclusion which we call 
a moral certainty. We further attempted to show 
that the mind should be as fully satisfied with the 
conclusions at which it arrives in this way, as with 
those reached in any other. 

Having disposed of these preliminary considera- 



28 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



tions, it was then stated that there are three lines of 
argument, in pursuing which we will arrive at the 
clear and undoubted evidence of God's existence : 

1st. The Metaphysical. 2nd. The Phenomenal. 
And 3rd. The Scriptural. 

Upon the first class of proofs we did not dwell, as 
the metaphysical argument, though highly conclusive 
to a certain class of minds, is regarded as somewhat 
abstruse, and not so satisfactory to the general reader. 

Upon the argument from phenomena we entered 
only so far as to notice the phenomena of nature, by 
which is developed every where in the universe of 
God, the presence of law. Upon this fact we dwelt 
as a, fact admitted by atheists themselves ; the argu- 
ment, clear and irresistible, being this : where there 
is lavj, there must be a lawgiver / and universal law 
points to an infinitely glorious Lawgiver — even to 
God. 

But we are not yet done with this argument from 
phenomena ; and we now invite the attention of our 
readers to another phase of this intensely interesting 
discussion. 

Besides the phenomena of the natural world, to 
which reference has now been made, indicating the 
existence of a lawgiver, we have another class of 
facts which clearly prove, as we think, the presence 
in the universe of a Moral Governor. By a Moral 
Governor we mean one who administers government 
or rule with regard to moral principles ; w7io has 
respect for the right ; who rewards tliose who do right, 
and punishes those who do wrong. 



FOR EAR TIIL T FIRESIDES. 29 

In the first chapter, we searched simply for the 
proofs in creation of a Supreme Being ; and those 
proofs we found in the law and order every where 
exhibited. Now we inquire for those phenomena 
which prove that there is a ruler who has regard to 
good and evil, light and wrong ; in other words, the 
phenomena of a moral government. 

Let us now institute a search for these phenomena ; 
and we appeal, 

1. To the soul of man, or to individual conscious- 
ness ; and, 

2. To the histwy of the world, or to universal 
experience. 

And 1st. If we look down into the soul of man, 
we will discover two things to aid us in our investi- 
gation : 

I. A moral sense, or a faculty of distinguishing 
letiveen actions, and discerning whether they are right 
or wrong, morally good or morally evil. 

Now we wish you to pause just here for a moment 
while we inquire, Whence this distinction, in the mind, 
of actions into these two classes f How does it come 
that every mind recognizes this difference ? Why 
have all men — in every age of the world, and in all 
nations — had this discernment touching what is 
right and what is wrong, what is just and what is 
unjust, what is righteous and what is wicked ? The 
answer to this question can only be found in the fact 
that there is a Supreme Being, who is also a Moral 
Governor, and w r ho, as the maker and governor of 
man, has planted in his soul this distinction. Actions 



3 ° HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

as good or evil have reference to a Supreme Being. 
This power of discernment points to a Moral Gov- 
ernor, with whom this distinction "between actions 
originated. 

What is a right action ? The only answer is : an 
action conformed to the will of the universal source 
of all authority. What is a wrong or sinful action ? 
Certainly an action not conformed to the will of this 
Being ? 

The existence, then, of this ability to thus discern 
between actions, clearly points to a Moral Governor, 
whose perfect will is the only standard of right and 
wrong. But then, 

2nd. In looking into our souls, we find that when 
we do right we experience pleasure, and when we 
do wrong we experience pain. Something within 
us approves of what we do in the one case, and 
as clearly disapproves in the other. How is this ? 
Here are clearly rewards and punishments, and of a 
moral character, or for moral actions. When one 
casts himself from a precipice, and finds himself at 
the base all bruised and mangled and bleeding, he 
has suffered from the violation of & physical law, and 
the existence of that law proves, as we have seen, the 
existence of a lawgiver ; and when one violates a 
moral law, or a rule of moral conduct, and experi- 
ences the punishment, it as clearly proves that there 
is a Moral Governor whose moral enactments have 
been broken. If one thrusts his hand into the fire 
and suffers from it, it is because he has violated a 
physical law, and the presence of that law, in whose 



FOR EAR TIIL Y FIRESIDES. 3 I 

violation he is punished, says to his reason, " There 
is a lawgiver, whose physical statute you have in this 
instance broken." So when he performs an action 
morally wrong, the pain he experiences tells of a 
moral law broken, which proclaims a Moral Governor 
offended. 

To make this matter more clear, if possible, let it 
be borne in mind that the pleasure we feel for a good 
action, and the pain for a bad one, are emotions expe- 
rienced without respect to the opinions of our felloio 
men. Though we know that no human being can be 
aware of what we have done, still if the act be in 
itself good, we will feel pleasure ; if evil, pain. An 
act of kindness to a total stranger ; a deed of mercy 
to a beggar ; a word of cheer to some struggling 
victim of misfortune ; a smile, even, bestowed upon a 
child ; all done in secret, with neither the hope nor 
the expectation of publicity, will not be without their 
reward in the pleasurable sensations of an approving 
conscience. While deeds prompted by malice, by 
envy, by jealousy, by revenge — deeds equally secret, 
equally without any expectation of public recogni- 
tion — carry with them, to the mind of the actor, a 
pang of punishment. Nay, a thought, a purpose, a 
resolve in the soul, formed, lodged, confined, and 
prisoned there, never allowed to escape, will make 
him who possesses it happy or miserable as it is good 
or bad. If you doubt this statement try the experi- 
ment. Form an evil purpose toward a neighbor ; 
keep it in your own soul ; let it rankle there, and see 
if it will not make you miserable. Such thoughts 



3 2 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

can have no respect to human law, or to human 
lawgivers, as these can take cognizance only of 
outspoken words and overt acts ; and the punishment 
experienced points clearly to a being above man — a 
great Moral Lawgiver whose dominion extends to the 
soul and covers all the thoughts and intents of the 
heart. 

In the very constitution of the soul of man, then, 
we find these two features proving the existence of a 
moral governor : 1st. A discernment of moral dis- 
tinctions in thoughts and actions; and, 2nd. The 
'presence of reiuards and pun'islvments, as our thoughts 
and actions are good or bad. Thus much we learn by 
an appeal to individual consciousness. 

Let us now turn to consider 

II. The 'phenomena becuring upon this point fur- 
nished by the history of the world. 

You will bear in mind that we are, in this chapter, 
looking for facts to prove, not the existence of a law- 
giver, a great first cause and ruler of all simply, but 
of a Moral Governor, of a being who has, all along, 
and who to-day governs and controls all events trans- 
piring upon earth, in accordance with certain great 
moral principles of which enlightened reason enables 
us to take cognizance. 

And now what proof does the history of mankind 
furnish of the existence of such a Moral Governor ? 
The limits of this work will allow us to consider but 
a few out of the many facts and phenomena which 
might here be cited. And, 

1. No nation has long flourished, or grown ulti- 



FOR EA li THL Y FIRESIDES. 3 3 

maU hj great and prosperous, which has in Us treatrm nt 
of its own citizens, or in its intercourse with sister 
nations and kingdoms, disregarded the fundamental 

principles of morality. We appeal to the history 
of nations in confirmation of this position. We need 
not cite particular cases at length. We assert, the 
foot, and challenge denial. Let history be consulted 
— even infidel history — and let it tell why Assyria 
and Babylon, why Macedonia and Rome, why Egypt 
and Idumea are not to-day what they once were. Go 
stand amid the decaying ruins of Nineveh and 
Tyre, or look out upon the desert wastes of the 
valley of the Nile from the tops of the now crumb- 
ling pyramids, or planting your feet upon the 
Acropolis at Athens, or among the prostrate columns 
of the Amphitheater of Rome, listen to the voice of 
history which has written upon all the fearful sen- 
tence, " The nation which fears not God shall perish." 
We dwell not upon this fact; we cite it and leave it 
with you. It would be an insult to the discernment 
of our readers to infer that they could be blind to 
the voice of history here. Even a Vblney, one of 
the most daring of infidels, moralizing amid the ruins 
of fallen kingdoms, could not fail to see, in their 
overthrow, the manifest agency of a mightier than 
man. But, 

2. The same truth is taught in the history of the 
Jewish nation especially. Though men should deny 
the lesson from general history, we have, in the case 
of this particular nation, proof so strong that he who 
denies it must be reckoned as well nigh insane. That 



3 4 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

this people Lave had an existence for many thou- 
sands of years can not be denied. That they have 
passed through the most astonishing vicissitudes is 
also most true. To go no farther back than the 
beginning of the Christian Era, what amazing trials 
and persecutions have since then befallen them ! 
Driven from Jerusalem by the victorious Romans, 
they were scattered over the face of the then civil- 
ized earth, and yet no where were they received 
with hospitality. Every where they were met with 
hostility, as though the whole earth were arrayed 
against them. The various nations, kingdoms and 
governments into which they were driven, seemed to 
vie with each other to render them a hissing and a 
by-word. Ingenuity exhausted itself in devices to 
render their condition intolerable. In Egypt, in 
Asia Minor, in Germany, in Hungary, in Holland, in 
France, in Spain, and in Portugal, they have been 
tortured, robbed, and murdered. From many of 
these countries they have been banished. France 
and Spain have vied with each other in the enact- 
ment of measures to crush out the hated seed ; and 
even England has added the force of her example to 
that of her less tolerant neighbors. They have been 
massacred by the thousand in Moravia, reduced to 
beggary by repeated plunders in Bonn and Bamberg, 
in Bohemia, Bavaria, Cologne, Nuremberg, Augs- 
burg, and Vienna. In short, the history of the 
Jewish nation for eighteen hundred years has been 
< a history of the most embittered conflicts, in which 
the hand of every man has been against them. And 



FOR EARTIIL Y FIRESIDES. 3 5 

yet, see what they are today ! How have they been 
preserved ? By what power have they been deliv- 
ered from the overwhelming waves of persecution 
which have for so many ages surged against them ? 

" The preservation of the Jews," says Basnage, 
" in the midst of the miseries which they have under- 
gone during seventeen hundred years, is the greatest 
prodigy that can be imagined. Religions depend 
upon temporal prosperity ; they triumph under the 
protection of a conqueror ; they languish and sink 
with sinking monarchies. Paganism, which once 
covered the earth, is extinct. The Christian church, 
glorious in its martyrs, yet was considerably dimin- 
ished by the persecutions to which it was exposed ; 
nor was it easy to repair the breaches in it made by 
those acts of violence. 

" But here we behold a church, hated and perse- 
cuted for seventeen hundred years, and yet sustaining 
itself, and widely extending. Kings have often 
employed the severity of edicts and the hands of 
executioners to ruin it ; the seditious multitudes, by 
murders and massacres, have committed outrages 
still more violent and tragical. Princes and people, 
Pagans, Mohamedans and Christians, disagreeing in 
so many things, have united in the design of exter- 
minating it, and have not been able to succeed. The 
hush of Moses, surrounded with flames, ever burns, 
and is never consumed. The Jews have been 
expelled, in different times, from every part of the 
world, which has only served to spread them in all 
regions. From age to age they have been exposed 



3 6 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

to misery and persecution ; yet still they subsist, in 
spite of the ignominy and the hatred that hath 
pursued them in all places, whilst the greatest 
monarchies have fallen, and nothing remains of them 
besides the name." 

It is said of Hegel, the distinguished German 
philosopher and infidel, that he once affirmed that 
" the existence of the Jewish nation puzzled him 
more thau any other fact for which he has ever 
attempted to account." And well it might. There 
is absolutely no way in which this fact can be 
accounted for, except upon the admission of the 
existence of a Moral Governor, who rewards for 
holiness and punishes for sin, and who keeps indi- 
viduals and nations in existence in order that he 
may punish. In his providence the identity of this 
wonderful people has been preserved during these 
many ages, that the glory of God might be displayed 
in their remarkable history. He who fails to recog- 
nize this truth is blind indeed. 

Look now at this wonderful people. Look at 
their present condition, and then affirm, if you can, 
that there is no Moral Governor — no God ! As well 
deny that the sun shines, that the luinds bloiv, that 
the tides ebb and flow, or that the moon is subject 
to periodic changes. It is simply absurd. Denial 
here is folly so glaring that no prudent man will 
venture it. But, 

3. The same touth is taught in the special provi- 
dences ivhich have marked the history of the church 
in every age. 



FOR EA R THL T FIRESIDES. 3 7 

This institution lias for its object the special work 
of keeping alive in the earth, and propagating 
among men, the knowledge and religion of the true 
God. In advancing this cause she has met, in all 
ages, with the most determined opposition. Again 
and again, during her history, has she been in peril, 
from the malice of foes and the blindness and igno- 
rance of her votaries. A thousand times, to all 
hiunan appearance, has she been upon the very verge 
of ruin. Still, in the midst of all, the most wonder- 
ful deliverances have been vouchsafed to her. A 
power mightier than that of man has manifestly 
interposed in her behalf. The malice of her foes has 
been rebuked, the blindness of her friends has been 
overruled, and she stands this day a monument to 
the undeniable existence of one who is Governor 
among the nations, of one who " doeth according to 
his will, in the armies of heaven, and among the 
inhabitants of the earth." 

It would be profitable, in the illustration of this 
part of our subject, to point to instances of the 
special manifestation of an overruling power in 
connection with individual churches, or of the whole 
church during particular emergencies in her history. 
It is well known that during the years of greatest 
defection in the Jewish Church, there were yet pre- 
served within her pale a leaven of true piety, so that 
during the most corrupt period of her history, there 
yet were seven thousand who had not bowed the 
knee to Baal. Thus also 'was it in the Christian 
Church during what is called the dark ages. When, 



3 8 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

to all human appearance, the cause of righteousness 
was lost, when the truth was apparently utterly 
overturned by the lava-like influx of soul-ruining 
error, there were still hundreds of humble Christians 
preserved as the nucleus of the true church when 
brighter days should come. Now why were not all 
carried away with the same error which corrupted 
the mass ? Why were any true to the cause of truth 
and righteousness during these days of defection \ It 
will be impossible to answer this question except 
upon the ground that there is an overruling Moral 
Governor who has a care for his church, the great 
design of which is to promote his glory, and elevate 
and save the race. The wonderful preservation of 
the Waldenses during ages of persecution, and the 
manifest exhibition of super-human aid rendered to 
Luther and his coadjutors in effecting the reforma- 
tion of the sixteenth century, need but be cited as 
most remarkable instances in point. He who can 
not see in these the working of a hand mightier than 
man's, must be blind indeed. 

4. Another proof of the existence of a Moral 
Governor is found in the remarkable detection which 
has in every age, and among all people, followed the 
commission of great crimes. Why, for instance, can 
murder never be hid ? Why has it passed into a 
proverb, that " Murder will out f " Why have men 
oftentimes confessed their great offences, when no 
human being knew of their sin but themselves ? Do 
you reply that conscience has something to do with 
this ? What, then, is conscience ? and who constitu- 



FOR EARTIIL T FIRESIDES. 3 9 

ted it an inward accuser and condemner of the guilty? 
Why should crimes arouse the conscience, aud cause 
it to goad men until they make acknowledgment of 
sin — to lash them, as with a scourge of scorpions, 
until they cry out in their bitter agony, and confess 
their crimes to rid themselves of the sting of this 
omnipresent monitor? Refer it to whatever secon- 
dary cause you may — say it is conscience, if you 
will ; but the impartial will yet see in this undeniable 
fact, confirmation of the great truth that there is a 
Moral Governor, whose will it is that the crimes of 
earth should not remain concealed. There is a God 
who exposes them. To this conclusion we are bound 
to come. 

5. Another proof of the same ti*uth is seen in tJie 
fact that property acquired dislwnestly has been found 
uni/v&rsally a curse rather than a Messing to its pos- 
sessor. 

This has been found to be a universal fact. Infi- 
dels, atheists, men of all creeds and of no creeds, in 
Christian and in heathen lands, have seen it. It has 
passed into a proverb, in one form or another, among 
all people, that ill-gotten gains will not wear. They 
are apt soon to disappear. They melt away some- 
how. They can not be retained. And, then, not 
unfrequently they become a curse to their possessor, 
to his family, or to both, even while they are retained. 
How often is it seen that gold secured by fraud, by 
trickery, by unjust means, by oppression, by wrong, 
by falsehood, poisons the life of him who has it ? 
He uses it for the gratification of his passions, his 



4° HE A VENL T LIGHT 

lust. He lives high, he drinks, he gambles, he sports ; 
and soon either becomes a beggar, or is early plunged 
into a dishonored grave. 

Or, if this is not the case with the unjust man 
himself, how often is it seen that his children squan- 
der with prodigal hands, and to their ruin, what the 
father acquired with fraud ? How often -have sons 
— and daughters, too — been ruined by property 
unjustly acquired? Now, why is this? If there is 
not a Moral Governor, who overrules and controls in 
all these things, why is it that these results are so 
universal ? If you reply that " such consequences 
are in accordance with the great fundamental prin- 
ciples of right and wrong ; that it can not be other- 
wise ; that it must be so," then we ask, who ordered 
this ? who decreed that it must be thus ? Can there 
be such a thing as right and wrong, except according 
to some great moral law ? And if there is a moral 
law, then must it have a source whence it emanated; 
and that source is God. 

6. But still again, the manifest end or design of 
afflictions and trials, as sent upon all men, clearly 
indicates the existence of a Moral Governor. Nothing 
can be better established than that all men have their 
trials. " Man that is born of woman is of few days 
and full of trouble." This is the universal expe- 
rience. Now why is this? Are these things sent 
upon men, or do they come by chance f If sent, who 
sends them ? If it is replied that men bring them 
upon themselves, we ask, Why are they then univer- 



FOR EAR TIIL Y FIRESIDES. 4 1 

sal ? Why has no being ever been found who was 
exempt from trial ? 

The truth is — a truth almost universally admit- 
ted — that a great end or purpose is manifest in these 
afflictions ; that end is discipline. We do not say 
that all men are made better by their trials. Far 
from it. The fire harden* if it does not soften. But 
sorrows, afflictions, trials, evidently have a mission ; 
and that mission is one of mercy. These things are 
manifestly sent to reform, to check, to restrain, to 
guide, to elevate, and save ; and in the case of God's 
children, this is the invariable result. Hence Paul 
declares, " Our light afflictions, which are but for a 
moment, work out for us a far more exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory." 

It is related of the celebrated Rev. Philip Dodd- 
ridge, that near the close of life he had a remarkable 
dream. He thought himself dead, and in heaven. When 
fairly within the pearly gates, an angel came to con- 
duct him through the streets, and show him the won- 
ders of the city. Among other j)laces visited, was a 
beautiful temple, in one of the magnificent rooms of 
which Doddridge saw, hanging upon the walls, life-like 
pictures of what seemed to be the scenes in the earth- 
life of some human being. Here, as a little child, he 
was seen falling from the arms of his nurse, while 
angel hands are placed beneath him to shield him 
from harm. Farther on, as a lad, he is being thrown 
from a carriage, by which accident he receives great 
bodily injury, and is only shielded from a sudden 
death by the vigilance of angel guardians. In 



4 2 * HEAVENLY LIGHT 

another picture, lie is seen prostrated upon a bed of 
sickness, enduring weeks of bodily anguish, while 
consumed with a slow and wasting fever. Recovered 
from this illness through the use of means owned 
and blessed of God, he is seen weeping by the bed- 
side of departing loved ones, and bending in agony 
over the open grave, which has just received the 
form of some member of his family, dearer to him 
than his own life, while God himself, by his Holy 
Spirit, whispers peace to his soul, and overrules, by 
his grace, the sad bereavement to his growth in holi- 
ness. Looking upon these pictures, Doddridge soon 
discovered that he was taking a view of his own life, 
and was thus having placed before him the various 
incidents through which, in the providence of God, 
he had himself been brought. He was then made 
to perceive that each successive event of life had 
been ordered with reference to his spiritual well- 
being ; that the most trifling circumstance which had 
befallen him had been ordered in infinite love ; that 
from the cradle to the grave, sickness and health, 
sorrow and joy, life and death, had all been sent or 
withheld, granted or denied, with reference to his 
final salvation in a world of glory. With this great 
truth indelibly impressed upon his soul, he awoke 
from his dream, never again to lose sight of that 
Moral Governor in whose hand rested his present 
and eternal destiny — never again to murmur or 
repine at whatever might befall him ; inasmuch as 
one sorrow less, one chastisement withheld, one afflic- 
tion denied, might shut his soul from heaven. Every 



FOR EARTHLY FIRESIDES. 43 

affliction, every trial, every pang, he now discovered 
to be essential to his eternal felicity. 

Now we behold this vast system of Providence, 
this universal discipline of trial, and noting how 
this one great end appears to stand out boldly prom- 
inent as the purpose of it all, we confidently affirm 
that it proclaims a Moral Governor who devised it, 
and who ever lives to overrule it all, to his own glory 
and the good of his creatures. Trials, afflictions and 
sorrows, with all their softening, moulding, elevating, 
sanctifying influences, loudly proclaim the being of 
a God, who is an intelligent Moral Governor of the 
universe. 

And now, having set before you what we deem to 
be conclusive proof of the existence of a Moral 
Governor in the universe, who must be God, we close 
this chapter with two practical suggestions : 

1. The great truth which we have now considered, 
that there is a supreme Moral Governor, should 
be greatly comforting to any who are seeking to 
serve him. Child of God, your labors will not be 
in vain. This God is near, to aid you in all your 
endeavors. Do you complain that you are weak ? 
He knows your weakness, and is ready, with his all- 
sufficiency, to aid you. Do you confess your sins, and 
are you ready to give way before the power of your 
temptations ? Remember that he can and does sym- 
pathize with you, and stands always ready to open 
up for you a way of escape. Are sorrows and trials 
yours? Consider their mission. They are sent in 
love, to lead you nearer and yet nearer to his side. 



44 HE A VENL T LIGHT, E TC. 

2. On the contrary, it should be a consideration 
greatly alarming and awakening to the impenitent, 
that there exists this God, whose prerogative it is to 
take cognizance of both good and evil. The inquiry 
of every unconverted soul should be, " Am I, then, 
continually under the eye of an all-seeing God — a 
God so pure and holy that he can not look upon sin 
with approbation ? Is it impossible for me to escape 
the glance of that eye % What, oh, what am I to 
do ?" There is but this you can do : Make your peace 
at once with God, through faith in Jesus Christ. 
Come to Cod in Christ, and he saved. This, by 
God's help, you can do, and you can do it now. 
Impenitent reader, will you turn to God and live ? 



" TURN" TE, TURN YE, FOE WHY WILL YE DIE ? 



g» 



CHAPTER III. 



" From Thee is all that soothes the life of man, 
His high endeavor and his glad success, 
His strength to suffer, and his will to serve. 
But O, thou bounteous Giver of all good! 
Thou art of all thy gifts thyself the crown." — Cowper. 

" The Spirit of the Lord spake by me." — 2 Sam. xxii. i. 



"We concluded in our last chapter the argument for 
the Divine existence from phenomena, having there 
presented the proofs for the being of a God, as drawn, 
1st, from the moral nature of man ; and 2nd, from 
the manifest indications of a moral government as 
developed in the history of the world and the church. 
We enter here upon our third line of argument : to 
wit, the Scriptural. 

In appealing to this department of evidence, let it 
not be understood that our design is simply to ash 
yon to consider those texts of the Bible, which affirm 
the being of a God. This course might be admissible 
at a later stage of our investigations, but would be 
manifestly unsatisfactory as an argument at present ; 
for it might be said, " What care we for what the 
book you call the Bible says touching the existence 



4-6 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

of God ? What authority has that book more than 
any other, that its voice should be heard ?" We will 
not, therefore, quote the Bible in proof of this or any- 
other cardinal doctrine, until we have first shown 
you, by irrefragable evidence, that it ought to be 
admitted as an inspired, and by consequence, author- 
itative witness. 

What now shall we call Scriptural proof of the 
Divine existence ? We answer, 

1st. TJie existence of the book known as t7ie Bible 
furnishes a most conclusive argument for the being 
of a God. 

This argument is based upon the assumption, which 
we fearlessly make, that no mere man — no set of 
men — could have produced such a book as this. It 
is just as impossible for man to have made the Bible 
as to have made a world. The argument is this : 
If the existence of a planet proves a divine power 
adequate to the production of such a glorious object, 
the existence of the Bible proves as conclusively the 
existence of a Being glorious beyond comparison, 
whose infinite wisdom and matchless knowledge ivere 
alone adequate to the production of sti-ch a book. 

Our position here is simple and clear ; a child can 
comprehend it. The Bible did not produce itself; 
some power above and outside of itself must have 
produced it. Yet it is a production as manifestly 
above the ability of man, as would the creation 
of the world on which we live. In other words, it 
would be just as rational to say that man, with his 
known and acknowledged finite capacity, could create 



FOR EAR TIIL T FIRESIDES 4 7 

a world, as that he could write such a book as the 
Bible. But this booh exists. There it is, just as the 
world exists ; just as the suu, moon and stars exist ; 
and its existence proves the being of a God. And 
now, in order that you may see that this is more than 
mere assertion, let us look at a few peculiarities of 
the Bible which clearly demonstrate its divine origin. 
And, 

1st. Consider the wonderful harmony which per- 
vades all the utterances of the sacred volume, from the 
first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Hevela- 
tion. 

The force of this consideration, and its bearing 
upon the present discussion, will appear in the light 
of the fact that no less than forty persons were 
employed in the writing of the Scriptures ; that they 
lived not in one age or nation, but that the first lived 
and wrote seventeen hundred years before the birth 
of Christ, and the last nearly one hundred years after 
the Saviour was born ; so that not less than eighteen 
hundred years of the world's history intervened 
between the writing of the first and last books of the 
finished canon of Scripture. 

Let this fact be pondered, for we deem it an 
important one in the elucidation of the point before 
us. The harmony of Scripture teaching can not be 
denied. There is nothing in Bible history, as given 
by Moses, which is denied or contradicted by Christ 
or his Apostles. Ezra and Nehemiah hold and teach 
the same truths which are promulgated by Paul and 
Peter, by James and John. David and Solomon, 



4-8 HE A VENL r L IGHT 

Isaiah and Daniel, have the same doctrinal beliefs, 
and enforce the same practical duties, which are 
found in the writings of Amos and Zachariah, Mat- 
thew, Mark and Luke. Though men have affected 
to find disagreements and antagonisms, they have 
been unable, when the matter was thoroughly inves- 
tigated, to substantiate their claims. Scriptwe har- 
mony has stood upon a basis too firm to be moved ; 
one tone, in perfect accord, without a discordant 
note, runs through the whole sacred volume. It is 
one truth / one utterance ; one voice ; one grand sym- 
phony of praise to the glory of the author of the 
universe. We may, without fear, challenge the 
whole infidel world to find one Scripture doctrine or 
teaching at variance with another, or out of harmony 
with the great end and purpose of the whole. 

Now, is it reasonable to suppose that forty men, 
left to themselves, living at so great a distance from 
each other, both as to time and place, without power to 
confer or consult with each other, could have pro- 
duced a book upon a theme so difficult as that of 
religion, and yet have harmonized so fully with each 
other ? 

To make this matter more clear, let it be remem- 
bered that there have been men who have written in 
different ages upon questions by no means so difficult 
to discuss as religion, and yet no ten, or five, or two, 
even, have been able fully to agree. Take the subject 
of political economy, or agriculture, or commerce, and 
examine what the writers of ten consecutive centu- 
ries have recorded upon these respective themes, and 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 49 

you will at once discover that there can be no recon- 
ciliation of their conflicting opinions. They are in 
a hopeless antagonism. 

We have a remarkable exemplification of the truth 
of this statement in the conflicts among mental and 
moral philosophers. From the days of Plato until 
the present moment, we have had men who have 
written upon the phenomena of the human mind — 
a theme by no means so difficult as that discussed in 
Scripture — and yet what is the result ? Does not 
every one know ; is it not patent to the whole world, 
that the philosophers are all at variance ? Socrates 
differs radically from Solon ; Plato from Socrates ; 
Aristotle from Plato ; Origen from Aristotle ; the 
School-men from Origen; Bacon from the School- 
men ; Beid from Bacon ; Stuart from Reid ; Sir 
William Hamilton from Stuart; Cousin from Sir 
William Hamilton; and Emerson, and Mill, and 
Herbert Spencer from them all ! The east has been 
arrayed against the west, and the west against the 
east ; Germany against France, and France against 
Germany ; while Scotland and England have main- 
tained a warfare against each other, which has only 
been suspended while they have each fought against 
the Continental metaphysicians. 

Now what does all this demonstrate ? Why this : 
that no forty men on earth could have written the 
Bible, so marked by the unity and harmony of its 
sentiments, had they not been under the constant con- 
trol of one great leading mind. Though the time in 
which the Bible was being written stretched over a 

4 



5 ° HE A VENL T LIGHT 

period of eighteen hundred years ; though the writers 
were surrounded by the strongest temptations, often- 
times, to vary from the one uniform testimony ; 
though it was not unfrequently persecution and 
death to proclaim the truth ; still from the utterances 
of Moses, in Genesis, down to the last solemn declara- 
tions of John, in the Isle of Patmos, whither he was 
banished for his fidelity to the great unbroken Scrip- 
tural testimony of the ages, we have but one utter- 
ance, one voice, one grand and glorious whole. We 
challenge the entire infidel world to produce a paral- 
lel to this in the works of man. We defy them to 
account for this wondrous feature of revelation upon 
any other theory than that there is a God, of whose 
own wondrous mind the Bible is the matchless pro- 
duct. 

And then to strengthen this view of the case, let 
it be particularly considered, that this harmony to 
which we have referred is not the dead, unbroken 
uniformity which characterizes the works of man, 
where one is a mere copyist of another. No, the 
harmony of the Scriptures is the harmony which 
marks all the works of nature ; a harmony which at 
the same time comports with a beautiful variety — a 
unity in variety to which it is impossible for man to 
attain. Let us explain : 

If you step out into the forest, you will every 
where see trees possessing the same general charac- 
teristics — a similarity which at once identifies them 
* as the production of one glorious Creator. You will 
see, for instance, that they all have roots and fibers, 



FOR EAR TIIL T FIRESIDES. 5 I 

by which they cling to the earth, and through which 
they draw nourishment from the soil. You will see 
that they all have a main trunk, which usually, a little 
way above the earth, parts into limbs ; that these 
limbs are armed with twigs, and that these again are 
clothed in spring and summer with soft and beautiful 
leaves. Looking a little more closely, you will dis- 
cover that every tree is provided with small conduits 
or channels beneath the bark, and that through these 
flow the sap which serves to keep the tree alive, and 
which adds annually to its growth and vigor. 

Now, in looking upon a whole forest, we say, 
" these are the points of unity ; the things which 
indicate the harmony which is apparent in the groves 
to the eye of every beholder." 

But then we will see a great variety there also — 
and a variety in entire consistency vnth this har- 
mony. We will see that all the trees are not of one 
size — some being large and some small ; that all are 
not of the same kind — some being oak, and some 
maple, and some beech, and some birch, and some 
pine, and some hemlock, and some walnut. 

"We will see that each variety may be distinguished 
by the texture and color of its bark, and by the 
fibers of its wood. We will see the greatest contrast 
between the leaves of each ; that they differ, in short, 
in a score of ways ; and yet there is, after all, such 
unity that we say this variety does not in the least 
disturb our minds. It only shows the infinite 
resources at the command of the God of Nature. 

While in its great leading peculiarities — the 



5 2 HBA VENL Y LIGHT 

essentials — each tree must be, and is like every 
other, it is yet the glory of the Maker that he is 
not confined to one mode of manifesting his creative 
power. 

And thus it is in every department of being ; unity 
in variety, and variety in strict consistency with 
unity is every where apparent. It is one of the 
things which distinguishes the works of an infinite 
mind. Look at the animal kingdom ; look at the 
mineral kingdom ; look at the human race. No two 
objects, no two bodies, no two minds are alike ; and 
yet, though there is such a variety, such a difference, 
still who can doubt that all came from the same 
glorious source ? 

And now it is to a like peculiarity of the Bible 
that we desire here to call special attention. You 
will find, by a careful perusal of its pages, the utmost 
variety, in consistency, at the same time, with the 
harmony of which we have spoken. There is dis- 
played, for instance, a great variety of style — plain 
narrative, glowing poetry, fervid prophecy, calm, 
dispassionate history, and simple biography. 

There is here an unfolding of all the passions of 
the soul — tender love, gushing sympathy, flowing 
compassion, scathing sarcasm, bitter irony, exultant 
hope, bounding joy, wailing sorrow, and black 
despair. We have here lessons for every sex and 
every age, counsel for every emergency, light for 
every hour of darkness sweets for every cup of 
bitterness, and supports for every burden imposed by 
the innumerable vicissitudes of daily life. We have 



FOR EA R TIIL T FIRESIDES. 5 3 

here heights which can not be scaled by the tireless 
wing of an archangel, and depths of mystery which a 
seraph could not fathom. Within the compass of a 
few hundred pages, we have compressed more true 
philosophy, more reliable histoiy, more instructive 
biography, more living poetry, more necessary 
knowledge, more satisfactory revelations, than we 
find in all the writings of all the ancients and 
moderns besides. If, this hour, all the libraries of 
earth were heaped into one vast pile, and then sunk 
into the bowels of the earth, never more to be seen, 
the loss would be as nothing in comparison with the 
loss of this one book — so full of wisdom — so rich 
and varied in its character. 

And yet all this fullness and variety is in entire 
accordance with its one great purpose. The whole 
of this wonderful treasure is a unit upon the great 
theme of salvation. All its poetry, its prophecy, its 
history, its biography ; all its revelations of human 
passions, the unfoldings of love, of compassion, of 
sympathy, of anger, jealousy and revenge ; all its 
truthful biography, detailing even the sins and 
imperfections of the followers of God ; all its revela- 
tions of the purposes of Jehovah, and all its unfold- 
ings of the devices of angels and of men, every 
doctrinal statement, every practical injunction, every 
detailed narrative or brief comprehensive hint, sug- 
gestion or announcement ; every thing, in short, 
contained in this wonderful book, bears upon, and is 
intimately connected with the one great purpose of 
the whole — the salvation of a lost and ruined world 



5 4 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

through the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, the 
son of the ever-living God. 

The botanist, in ranging the forest, may find a 
plant, or shrub, or tree, which may seem to him an 
anomaly. He will not know where to place it — 
how to classify it. It will seem at first as scarcely 
belonging to the vegetable kingdom. But as he 
studies farther, he finds here and there some traces 
of resemblance to the other products around ; a 
stamen, a pistil, a leaf, or a' flower, will show, by 
some unmistakable mark, that what before seemed 
anomalous, is indeed in harmony with the whole 
works of God in the vegetable kingdom. So in 
reading the Scriptures, you may come to a passage 
which appears in no wise connected either with what 
goes before, or with what comes after. Nay, a whole 
narrative or book, as the history of Ruth and Naomi, 
or the life of Esther, the beautiful queen of Ahasue- 
rus, may seem utterly without a purpose. But as 
you read, you will find that what you regarded as 
useless is absolutely essential to the perfection of the 
record, just as in the instances cited, the touching 
narrative of Ruth is absolutely essential to prove 
Christ's descent from David ; and Ruth herself beiug 
a Moabitess of the Gentile race, but honored in being 
adopted into the family of God to become one of the 
ancestors of Jesus, is a type of what Christ was 
to become — the Saviour of the whole world, the 
Redeemer of all who should believe in him, both 
Jews and Gentiles. 

And thus is it with every portion of the sacred 



FOR EAR THE T FIRESIDES. 5 5 

record. With that same wonderful variety which 
characterizes all the works of Grod, there is a marked 
harmony in the whole. One great end and purpose 
is subserved by the ivhole record — the glory of God 
in the redemption of a ruined world. 

The following eloquent thoughts upon this same 
general subject, extracted from " Life Lessons in the 
School of Duty," by the Eev. E. H. Gillett, D.D., 
will not be without interest to the reader : 

" What a wonderful book the Bible is ! The 
marvel of literature ; the text-book of the world ! 
Where is there any thing like it in all the writings 
of men % It is the only book extant which may be 
called a book for all, or that is equally adapted to 
all. You put it into the child's hand, and he grows 
old reading it, but it has new charms to the last, and 
is unexhausted still. The hoary head bends over it, 
not less intent than the eyes that gleam out under 
the fair young brow, tracing lines that have been 
traced a hundred times, but which are still as fresh 
and bright as ever. Childish simplicity is taught the 
deepest truths, and readily apprehends them, while 
separate books, or even chapters of the volume task 
the ingenuity and exhaust the learning of deep-read 
scholars. The peasant pores over it in his hovel, 
and the nobleman in his palace, and it is alike a 
teacher for both. The thankful heart finds in it the 
language of praise, and the penitent heart adopts its 
forms of contrition. The soldier reads it in camp, or 
in the intervals of battle, and the widow reads in it 
as she comes back from the new-made grave, ' the 



5 ^ HE A VENL T LIG HT 

Lord is thy husband.' The patriarch of four score 
reads it by his fireside, and the lisping prattler on 
his knee is charmed by its stories from the old man's 
lips. How could you teach youth a simpler petition 
than our Lord's prayer ; and how could the pro- 
foundest learning frame any thing more comprehen- 
sive, appropriate, or sublime ? 

" Suppose you invited all the wisdom and genius 
of the world to-day to combine their energies to 
frame a text-book of morals and religion, which 
should go alike to the Englishman's castle and the 
Hottentot's kraal, with Kane to the polar seas, and 
Livingstone to African deserts ; that the professor of 
law should tell his students to read for its sublime 
morality ; a book that should do more than the 
wisdom of all codes to shape the legislation of 
nations, and more than all science to overthrow the 
temples and the idols of pagan nations ; a book that 
a mother should put in her boy's knapsack when he 
goes forth to the scenes of battle, and to which she 
turns herself for consolation when she learns that he 
sleeps with the untombed dead ; a book that shall 
guide the footsteps of erring youth, and pillow the 
hope of the departing spirit ; a book in which a 
Newton, a Herschel, a Brewster, and a Mitchel shall 
devoutly confess they discover truths more glorious 
than their telescopes reveal, and which shall have 
power to change the savage to a man ; and does 
any one imagine that the ripest civilization of the 
nineteenth century, garnering up all the lore and 
experience of ages, could produce such a book ? 






FOR EARTHL T FIRESIDES. 5 7 

Philosophers read Lord Bacon, and scholars study 
Plato, and in these men you find the ripest thought 
of centuries and of generations ; but what are they 
to the laborer or the school-boy? nay, how their 
ripest thoughts die out as a meteoivflash, when you 
read the wonderful parables of tlie man of Nazareth, 
or listen to the utterances of his sermon on the 
Mount ! 

" No wonder that the book is cherished. No 
wonder that precious memories of it are twined 
about the past, and the brightest rainbow hues of 
the future are borrowed from the hopes it inspires. 
It is associated with all that is dearest to the human 
heart. The old family record grows almost sacred, 
interleaved with these pages. The dying parent 
goes to this fountain to find words of farewell coun- 
sel to those he leaves behind. Here is what we 
repeat at the bridal ; here is what we read at the 
burial. Here is the chapter for family devotion, and 
here the text for the sanctuary. The richest bequest 
of parental piety comes from the teachings of this 
book ; and with the last memorial of the departed, 
we trace on the tombstone some ' holy text ' which 
it has enshrined. 

" What is the meaning of all this in connection 
with a book penned largely by shepherds and fisher- 
men ? There is but one answer. Here is God's 
text-book for the race, adapted to every capacity and 
to every lot. This tree of wisdom, beneath whose 
shadow we gather to learn lessons beyond all that 
was taught in Platonic groves, is a tree of God's 



S 8 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

planting. It is rooted in the soil of the distant 
centuries. It spreads its fibers beneath Sinai and 
Calvary. The spirit of God breathes through its 
whispering leaves, and the songs of prophets, and 
apostles, and martyrs yet wake living echoes beneath 
its branches. The* leaves of the tree are for the 
healing of the nations, and its fruit is the fruit of 
the tree of life. Humanity itself pants for a place 
beneath its shade." 

And now our argument is before you. There is 
the Bible with its wonderful unity and variety. 
Account for it as you may, there is but one conclu- 
sion to which the dispassionate, the unprejudiced 
mind will come. The existence of this most wonderful 
booh can be accounted for only by admitting the being 
of God. An infinite mind is demanded in the 
production of such a volume. 

It shall be our aim to attempt to strengthen this 
position in the next chapter, by examining a little 
more minutely the contents of this remarkable pro- 
duction of Divine wisdom. And now we close by 
asking — Have we indeed a book written by God ? 
Have we a volume prepared for us by the Divine 
mind ? Has God been at the pains — so to speak — 
of preparing for us a book which contains a revela- 
tion of his will to man ? Yes ; this we fully believe. 
And here it is in our own language. We can read it 
if we will. It treats of the most solemn and weighty 
interests. It unfolds a world to come. It draws the 
veil which shuts out from us the future. It tells of 
heaven and hell — of endless joy and endless misery. 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 5 9 

And are you, 0, reader ! indifferent to this book ? 
Can it lie upon your shelves ; upon your tables ; unno- 
ticed and unread ? God forbid. Take it ; O, take 
it as the man of your counsel, as the guide of your 
life. Into eternity you must go. Would you be 
ignorant of its solemn verities % Would you go 
down to death like one going out into the darkness 
— not knowing where your next step will land you ? 
Surely, this is not wise ; it is not necessary ; to this 
you are not doomed. 

Here is the Bible ; use it ; it will cast a strong 
light over all the future, and make you wise unto 
eternal life. 

"Within this ample volume lies 
The mystery of mysteries ; 
Happiest they of human race 
To whom their God has given grace 
To read, to fear, to hope, to pray, 
To lift the latch, to force the way; 
And better had they ne'er been born, 
That read to doubt, or read to scorn." 



CHAPTER IV. 



4 



*' Tis Revelation satisfies all doubts, 
Explains all mysteries except her own, 
And so illuminates the path of life, 
That fools discover it, and stray no more." — Cowper. 

1 Every word of God is pure." — Proverbs xxx. 5. 



In the last chapter we entered upon the Scriptural 
argument for the being of God. It was there 
affirmed that the existence of suc7i a book as the 
Bible could only be accounted for satisfactorily by 
admitting the existence of an all-wise, omniscient 
Being from whom it emanated, just as we account 
satisfactorily for the existence of the world only by 
assuming the existence of an omnipotent Creator, by 
whom it was made. In illustration of this position, 
the wonderful harmony of the various parts of Scrip- 
ture was cited ; and also the variety noticeable in 
the sacred writings — there being in Scripture, as we 
discover, the same wonderful unity in variety, and 
variety in unity, which clearly proclaim the skill and 
wisdom of an infinite mind in all departments of 
nature. 



62 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



It is our desire now, to strengthen still further the 
position taken in the last chapter, by a somewhat 
more minute investigation of the contents of the 
Bible. 

You know that a person, in looking at a human 
body, might say, " The very existence of such a 
wonderful object as this — so complete in all its 
appointments and organs — shows clearly that it had 
a most wonderful Creator. Its outivard appearance 
strongly favors this assumption." But then he might 
go farther and say, "An examination of its inward 
structure and organism may still further strengthen 
this position. I will therefore see what is beneath 
the surface of this body ; I will take it apart, piece 
by piece, and if the whole not only, but each separate 
part also demonstrates a Creator, of superhuman skill 
and wisdom, then is the argument complete." Now 
this is just what it is proposed to do with the Bible. 
We shall ask you to look at it minutely and in detail, 
believing that you will not fail to find in this inves- 
tigation proof irrefragable of the being of a God. 
And, 

1. Let us notice the grand conception of the 
Divine character contained in Scripture. No mere 
human being, of himself, ever conceived such an idea 
of God as the Bible contains. It is an idea as far 
above what the unaided human mind could have 
reached, as a ivorld is more glorious than an ant-hill. 

Look at it ! " God is a Spirit /" Who but God 
himself could have told us that ? u Infinite /" Who 
would ever have thought of that ? Did ever a 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 63 

heathen mind conceive of an infinite God ? No, not 
one. Their deities were all limited, restricted, cir- 
cumscribed beings. "Eternal" — "from everlasting 
to everlasting " — without beginning or end of being ! 
Whence came that conception — so grand — so man- 
ifestly beyond all human invention? No unaided 
human mind could ever have discovered this idea, or 
framed a thought so manifestly superhuman. " Un- 
changeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, 
justice, goodness, and truth" This is the Bible 
conception of God — a conception as manifestly from 
God himself, and hence as clearly proving his exist- 
ence as the sun in the heavens. 

That you may see that what we affirm here is not 
unfounded assertion, let a contrast be drawn between 
the Scriptural conception of Deity, and that to which 
in heathen lands the unaided human mind has 
attained. Go to India and Egypt ; to China and 
Japan ; to the wilds of Africa and of South America, 
and mark the best and highest conceptions of God 
which these nations have ever reached. In India, his 
most popular representative is the Ganges ; while in 
the repulsive idols from Juggernaut down through a 
long and degrading list of images of wood, and clay, 
and stone, he is dishonored to an extent almost incon- 
ceivable to a rational mind. In Egypt, the crocodile 
is one of the most common objects of adoration ; 
while more than thirty thousand creatures, including 
every conceivable beast, and bird, and creeping rep- 
tile, is honored as the Creator. And this is but a 
specimen of what is seen wherever the Scriptures 



64 HEA VBNL T LIGHT 

have not gone with their grand, and beautiful, and 
rational conception of Deity. It may perhaps be 
urged that the more cultivated heathen nations, 
ancient and modern, had attained to much nobler 
ideas of God than these. And yet where is the 
proof of this ? Look at the deities of Greece and 
Rome ! What was Jupiter, the chief of all the gods, 
but a tyrant and a libertine ? What was Venus but 
the synonym of all that was most lustful, vile and 
impure ? What Mars, and Vulcan, and Minerva, and 
the whole catalogue of Olympus, but beings distin- 
guished from the mass of depraved men and women 
upon the earth chiefly by their superior ability and 
power to gratify their unsanctified ambition — their 
beastly passions — their unbridled lusts ? O, what a 
world-wide difference between what unaided man 
ever dreamed of Deity, and the pure, the holy, the 
immaculate God of revelation ! God only knows 
himself truly, fully, and he only could have revealed 
this knowledge to his creatures. 

And then it imparts emphasis to this view when 
we recall to mind the fact that all heathen nations 
had at one time a knowledge of the true God. 
The original condition of man was not one of 
heathenism. God gave to our first parents, and 
through them to all their posterity, a correct 
knowledge of himself. His true nature was known 
to Adam and his descendants; but through the 
depravity of the heart of man this knowledge 
was lost. The ideas of man touching Deity be- 
came gradually less clear and less distinct; less 



FOR EARTHLY FIRESIDES. 65 

pure and less rational ; until among the peoples 
where the Bible was unknown, the most gross and 
sensual conceptions of him prevailed. It is not diffi- 
cult to see where the true light is found at the 
present day. It surely is not among the Egyptians, 
with their thirty thousand deities, nor with the 
Hindoos, who according to some, worship not less 
than three hundred and thirty millions of idols. It 
is not found with the Chinese nor Japanese, the 
Esquimaux, nor South Sea Islanders. All these, " not 
wishing to retain God in their knowledge," " have 
changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an 
image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, 
and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." Right 
reason rejects all these degrading conceptions of 
Deity, and says at once, " that alone is a worthy con- 
ception of God which is contained in the Bible. The 
grand, ennobling characteristics of Deity, unfolded 
in Scripture, are alone worthy the true God." This 
is the utterance of enlightened reason. Then, 

2. There is the Bible doctrine of creation; the 
sublime statement that God made all things of nothing 
by the toord of his power ; that he spake, and all 
things sprang into being. * 

It was an axiom among the wisest philosophers of 
heathenism, " that something could not come from 
nothing." And they were resting in the unreasona- 
ble dogma that the matter of the universe must have 
been eternal. To the sublime conception of the Bible 
truth they never could have attained. The combined 
wisdom of earth never could have reached a- height 

5 



66 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



so sublime as this. God only knew that he made the 
worlds out of nothing ; and the Bible recording it 
proves the being of a God. 

The argument upon this point is one which can be 
easily comprehended. No man unacquainted with 
the teachings of Scripture would have concluded 
that all things were made of nothing ; that all 
worlds and systems of worlds were spoken into being 
by the omnipotent fiat of the self-existent God. But 
the Bible reveals this truth, and now that it is 
revealed, we see the reasonableness of it. The judg- 
ments of men approve what their reasons could never 
have reached had it not been revealed. They say at 
once, " Here is a teaching of the most glorious char- 
acter, accounting in a manner entirely satisfactory 
for a wonderful fact otherwise shrouded in impene- 
trable mystery. Man was not present when God 
made the worlds, and therefore could not have known 
how it was done. This great fact was known only to 
God. Dull, senseless matter, did not make itself ; it 
surely is not eternal ; it must have had a beginning ; 
and the author of its being, its Creator, must be the 
Uncreated Intelligence we know as God." Here 
the soul rests satisfied, and here only. Then again, 

3. The majesty and perfection of the moral law 
loudly proclaim the existence of God. Take the ten 
commandments, and read them carefully, and tell me 
whence did they emanate ? Never was the mind of 
man capable of conceiving of such sublime principles 
as are uttered in the decalogue. The laws of Solon, 
the statutes of Lycurgus, the precepts of Confucius, 



FOR EARTHL T FIRESIDES. 67 

are peurile and contemptible in the comparison. 
Statesmen, the most enlightened of earth, have 
pronounced the ten commandments the very con- 
summation of wisdom. Considering that the age in 
which they were promulgated was one of great 
darkness ; considering that Moses was reared and 
educated at a heathen court, where he could not have 
acquired the sublime morality taught in the deca- 
logue ; considering, too, that every one of those 
commands stands in direct antagonism to the sug- 
gestions and desires of the unsanctified mind and the 
unconverted heart of man, and they must ever pre- 
sent an enduring monument of the existence of a 
Divine Being. 

We read the laws of Greece and Rome, of India and 
of Egypt ; we examine the noblest works of uncon- 
verted men in the framing of statutes for states and 
kingdoms, and we are amazed at the superiority of 
that matchless code given at Sinai thirty-five hundred 
years ago. The decalogue is perfect. It contains our 
whole duty to God and to man. In the compass of 
a single page it compresses precepts which cover the 
whole field of morality — the entire domain of duty. 
It commences just where enlightened reason says it 
should commence — with God, the promotion of 
whose glory is the primary object of all creation, 
and extends to man — our brother — made in the 
image of God. It enjoins a perfect religion, and 
inculcates a spotless morality. Unlike human laws 
and human statutes, which can only reach the out- 
ward life, the decalogue takes cognizance of the soul, 



68 



HE A VBNL T LIGHT 



reaches to the spirit, regulates the heart, commands 
the thoughts, and is binding upon the inmost nature 
of every human being. In reading the decalogue the 
thoughtful are impressed and awed by it, in spite of 
themselves. We feel that these are not the words of 
man — that these are not the injunctions of a fellow- 
worm. Our emotions are not unlike the sensations 
we experience in listening to the thunder's dreadful 
roar, or witnessing the grand sweep of the tornado, 
or the terror-inspiring gleam of the lightning. There 
are sentiments awakened by these phenomena of 
nature which man, by no act of his own, can inspire. 
He may see7c to imitate the thunder, the lightning, 
and the whirlwind, but the results of his efforts are 
so imperfect, so utterly beneath the reality, that they 
excite our pity. Who doubts, when he looks out 
upon the heaven-piercing altitudes of the Alps and 
the Appenines, that the feelings of awe awakened by 
these sublimities bear witness to the hand of an infi- 
nitely glorious Creator ? "What work of man ever 
inspired such awe, or awoke such mingled feelings 
of reverence and fear as Mount Blanc or Chimborazo ? 
Man may build his vast cathedral piles, and rear his 
pyramids, and push heavenward his towers of Babel, 
but what are they in comparison with the cloud- 
piercing mountains reared by the almighty Architect 
of all worlds ? So is it with human laws, and stat- 
utes framed by human legislators. They compare 
with the decalogue as imperfection with perfection • 
as the finite with the infinite ; as the human with the 
divine. 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 69 

What human law but has required revision ? 
What human statute but has had need of improve- 
ment ? Even the constitutions of states and king- 
doms, framed with all the care and skill 'attainable 
as the fundamental laws — the very corner-stones of 
society — have needed amendment as years have 
rolled away, but the laws of God — the ten com- 
mandments, given at Sinai thirty-five hundred years 
ago — stand to-day, as they will stand forever, glori- 
ous in their imperishable perfection, their unchanging 
and unchangeable freshness, majesty and beauty. 
Who devised them ? Who framed them ? Let 
infidels answer if they can. If there is not a God, 
then is the decalogue the profoundest mystery on 
earth. You may assume, if you can, that matter is 
eternal, that the sun is from everlasting / but, we ask, 
who framed the decalogue t 

4. But still further ; the ivonderful teaching of 
Scripture concerning holiness as the great object of 
human attainments, demonstrates the Divine existence. 

The religion of the Bible differs from all other 
religions essentially in this, that it alone insists upon 
holiness in man in order to eternal felicity. Other 
systems make virtue, and honesty, and charity, and 
justice, and equity, and genera? morality, the grand 
objects to whose pursuit they urge their votaries with 
more or less of earnestness and zeal ; but not one — 
we assert this without qualification — not one system 
of religion framed by man has ever attained to the 
high and sublime conception of holiness as the ulti- 
mate aim of the soul. Did you ever think of this ? 



7 O HE A VENL T LIGHT 

Now, we ask, whence a conception so manifestly 
superhuman ? How could man have known that 
there was such a thing as holiness, or that it was 
attainable,' had there not been a God to declare it ? 
The unaided human mind could never have reached 
the height of this sublime grace — this transcendant 
qualification — had not God said, "Be ye holy, for 
I am holy," " Without holiness, no man shall see the 
Lord." All merely human ideas fall as far short of 
the Scripture one here, as the highest attainments in 
sculpture and painting fall short of nature. If we 
were to ask the atheist, " Whence the Bible idea of 
holiness, if there be no God V we would be com- 
pelled to wait in vain for an answer. That grand 
fundamental teaching of Scripture, so manifestly 
superhuman, demonstrates the divine existence. 

Indeed, holiness is something of which the world, 
of itself, knows nothing. This is a grace of which 
man must have remained forever ignorant, had not 
the Bible revealed it. And, finding this wondrous 
doctrine clearly contained in Scripture, our argument 
is that of the physiologist who would infer the exist- 
ence of a glorious Creator from the wonderful char- 
acter of some specific organ of the human system. 
He looks, for instance, at the eye. He examines it 
carefully. He discovers its beautiful mechanism. 
He considers its adaptability to the end designed. 
He studies its coatings, its humors, its delicate cur- 
tains, its wonderful properties and qualities, so man- 
ifestly superhuman, and he says at once, " This did 
not come by chance — it did not make itself. No 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 7 1 

mortal could have planned it, or conceived it. Its 
existence, therefore, proves a divine mind — a super- 
human architect." So with the doctrine of holiness 
found incorporated in that wonderful body of truth 
known as the Bible. How did it come there? 
Whose mind conceived it ? Is it earthly ? Is it of 
man ? No, no. To account for its presence in the' 
Bible, we must assume the existence ©f an Infinite 
Mind — an intelligence, superhuman and divine. 
No other conclusion will satisfy the soul. 

It is a remarkable fact, illustrative of this position, 
that even in Christian lands, and among peoples sup- 
posed to be familiar with Scriptural ideas, this mat- 
ter of holiness is so grossly misunderstood. The 
great mass seem unable to conceive of it as any thing 
more than virtue or morality. So far from its being 
true that man could ever have attained, of himself, 
to a knowledge of this wondrous blessedness, it seems 
impossible for him to grasp it, even, after it is 
revealed. He mistakes both the nature of it, and 
the source from which it emanates. He conceives of 
it as the practice of moral duties, as the observance 
of a virtuous line of conduct, as abstinence from vice 
and crime. This is to misapprehend its nature 
altogether. Virtue and morality are embraced in it, 
but it is a grace which lies wholly behind all virtue. 
It is a higher, nobler thing than was ever dreamed 
of by the mere moralist. It is a sanctity bom of the 
Holy Spirit's presence, and indwelling in the soul of 
the regenerate. It is known only to him who is 
born again. It is the secret of the Lord, which is 



7 2 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

found alone with those who have passed from death 
to life, and in whose souls Christ has been formed the 
hope of glory. To the world a mystery — to the 
Christian an experience — its presence in the Bible 
as a revelation, demonstrates the existence of its 
Author. 

And thus we might go forward, enumerating one 
after another* all the great cardinal teachings of the 
sacred volume, to the same purpose ; we could suc- 
cessfully point you to the doctrine of the fall of 
man, as alone satisfactorily accounting for the present 
condition of the world, morally and spiritually ; we 
could appeal to the doctrines of repentance, faith, 
and obedience — so reasonable, as duties lying at the 
foundation of a holy life ; we might point you to the 
grand conception of a radical change of heart as 
necessary to salvation — a conception so manifestly 
superhuman that when first presented to the mind 
we are confounded, and forced to cry, with Nicode- 
mus of old, " How can these things be 1" "We might 
refer to the "golden rule" which, in a word, contains 
a more perfect system of morality than all the writ- 
ings of the sages. 

"We might point to that wondrous law of love 
which is every where inculcated in the sacred record 
— a law to be observed not only in the intercourse 
of friends, but of enemies as well. "We might point 
you to the grand doctrine of the atonement — that 
God is reconciling the world unto himself through 
the death of his Son ; a doctrine of which man never 
could have dreamed, and yet the only one which 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 7 3 

presents one ray of hope to ruined humanity. We 
might point you to the Sermon on the Mount, to the 
Lord's Prayer, to the doctrine of the soul's immor- 
tality, the resurrection of the body, the doctrine of 
future rewards and punishments — a heaven of per- 
fect spiritual felicity and a hell of endless woe — to 
all these distinctive teachings of the Scriptures, might 
we appeal, and in them all behold the most conclu- 
sive proof of the divine existence. Just as the 
devout anatomist, having satisfied himself that the 
general structure of the human body proves a divine 
Creator of that body, then proceeds to an examina- 
tion of the brain, the lungs, the heart, the stomach, the 
viscera, and finds in each and in all a wonderful con- 
firmation of his belief — so we not only find in the 
Bible, viewed as a whole, evidence that there is an 
All- Wise God, but in its several parts, in its specific 
doctrines and duties, its laws and precepts, its insti- 
tutions and ordinances, clearly discover the strongest 
confirmation of our faith. 

This, however, is as far as we can at present go ; 
and we close with two or three remarks : 

1. How little do men realize their indebtedness to 
the Word of God ! How little would have been 
known concerning our relations to God, or our des- 
tiny for eternity, had it not been revealed to us in 
Scripture? We boast of our knowledge, of the 
extent of our information, of our intelligence; but 
fail to give credit to Him to whom alone credit is 
due. How could we have learned from the light of 
nature, that our highest duty is to love the Lord 



7 4 HE A VBNL Y LIGHT 

with all the heart, soul, mind and strength ? And 
yet how reasonable does this duty appear, when once 
we are made acquainted with it by Scripture ! How 
could we have ever learned, from the light of nature, 
that our duty to our fellow-men was to do unto them 
as we would that they should do unto us ? And yet 
how comprehensive and how just does this Scripture 
precept appear ! How could we have known that 
we were immortal — that our souls were destined 
either for endless bliss or endless woe — if God had 
not in mercy made known to us these important 
facts? Life or death — eternal bliss or eternal 
woe — are brought to light in the Gospel alone. 

2. What a manifestation of the divine solicitude 
in man's behalf, is the revelation contained in Scrip- 
ture ! Was God under any obligation to make 
known to us the great teachings of his Word? Was 
it a necessity resting upon him, to reveal to us our 
sinfulness, our obligations to him, our immortality, 
an eternity of bliss or of woe, and the way of life 
through Jesus Christ our Lord ? Far from it. God 
was not indebted to us ; he was not under any obli- 
gations to us. The wondrous revelations of Scrip- 
ture, then, were made through the - sovereign mercy 
and grace of a God solicitous for man's salvation. 
It was the love of God which prompted him to make 
to earth the disclosures contained in the sacred vol- 
ume. Hence, it can not be otherwise than that these 
teachings are for our temporal and eternal well-being. 
How important, therefore, that we heed the injunc- 
tion of the divine Kedeemer, " Search the Scriptures, 



FOR EARTHL T FIRESIDES. 7 5 

for in theni ye think ye have eternal life, and they 
are they which testify of me." 

3. If, then, these wondrous revelations of Scrip- 
ture were made for man's temporal and eternal well- 
being, and if they are the product of the infinite 
solicitude of God in our behalf, how guilty must he 
be who neglects or rejects the teachings of the sacred 
volume ! This is no ordinary book ; the merest 
glance at it will show us this. Nor is it a book filled 
with speculations, or conjectures, or theories. Its 
doctrines and precepts are intensely practical. They 
relate to the conduct of each day, each hour. They 
have a bearing upon all our relations in this life, and 
upon the higher interests of eternity. To neglect 
these teachings, then, to ignore them, to live as 
though the Bible were not — as thousands do — is to 
exhibit a most stolid indifference to one's best and 
dearest interests ; and to reject these teachings and 
precepts, is to expose the soul to the wrath of a 
justly offended God. 

Reader, how is it with you ? You live in a land 
of Bibles — are you indifferent to Bible truth ? You 
are surrounded with light, streaming from the throne 
of God — do you yet walk in darkness? You are 
hastening, with the rapidity of the arrow's flight, to 
eternity and to the bar of God — are you yet uncon- 
verted and unsaved ? Let this be your reproach no 
longer ; but, turning at once to God in Christ, take 
his blessed Word to be your light and guide, even 
unto death. 

" Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found ; 
call ye upon him, while he is neae." 



CHAPTER V. 



" The book — this holy book, on every line 
Marked with the seal of high divinity — 
On every leaf bedewed with drops of love 
Divine, and with the eternal heraldry 
And signature of God Almighty stamped 
From first to last." Pollock. 



" I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the 
beginning." — Isaiah xlvi. 9, 10. 



We called attention, in the last chapter, to the fact 
that the Bible contains statements of doctrine and 
truths, which are so far above what is possible for 
man to know of himself, that we must conclude that 
there is a God who has revealed them. We cited, in 
proof of this position, the teachings of the Bible 
touching the character of God, the creation of all 
things from nothing, the fall of man, the doctrine of 
holiness in order to happiness, the necessity of regen- 
eration, the atonement through the sacrifice of Christ, 
the resurrection of the body, a future judgment, a 
heaven of eternal felicity, and a hell of endless woe. 
We referred also, in proof of our position, to the 
majesty, perfection and beauty of the moral law as 



7 8 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



embodied in the Decalogue or Ten Commandments, to 
the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord's Prayer, and the 
comprehensive moral precept, " Do unto others as ye 
would that others should do unto you," commonly 
called the Golden Rule. In all these doctrines, pre- 
cepts, and. parts of Scripture, we saw an excellence 
and glory so far transcending the highest attainments 
of the unaided human intellect, that we are forced to 
the conclusion that there is a divine Being from 
whom alone they could emanate. 

We are not, however, through with this part of 
our argument. Conclusive as our positions have 
hitherto been, there are yet other grounds in this 
same connection, still further confirmatory of the 
great fact of God's existence. In reading the Scrip- 
tures, we find not only the remarkable doctrines and 
principles, and teachings, to which reference was 
made in the last chapter, but we find predictions or 
prophecies which none but a God of infinite know- 
ledge could have made — not mere guesses and conjec- 
tures, but veritable predictions of future events.* 

Now if it can be clearly shown that there are in 

* In quoting the prophecies of Scripture in this, and the miracles 
recorded in Scripture, in the following chapter, we regard the Bible 
simply as a book -whose record of facts has never been impeached. As 
yet we do not appeal to it as inspired, but only ask for its statements 
the credit due to any other credible historical writings. The reader 
should never forget that, let the subject of inspiration be settled as it 
may, the Bible, as a record of facts, remains an unimpeached and unim- 
peachable witness for God. The impression is altogether too general, 
that if the advocates of inspiration fail to sustain their positions, the 
Bible is disposed of, and infidelity has the argument. Not so. The 
Bible, with its wondrous teachings, its undeniable prophetic revela- 
tions, and its unimpeached record of facts, remains to be accounted for. 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 7 9 

the Bible, not two or three, but scores of such 
prophecies, so minute, so particular, so well defined 
in all their essential features, that there can be no 
reasonable question in regard to them, then the con- 
clusion will be this : " There is a God, for only a 
Divine Being can foreknow and reveal things yet 
future." And this argument will be one which every 
person can understand. It needs no lengthened dis- 
cussion to prove that God alone can foresee what is 
yet in the distant future. Atheists and infidels 
themselves have admitted the force of this position, 
and so difficult have they found it to resist the power 
of the argument based upon prophecy, that they have 
resorted to all manner of subterfuges to turn it aside, 
even asserting in some cases, that the records must 
have been written after the events. 

Our purpose, then, in this chapter, will be to lay 
before the reader and briefly to elucidate a few of 
the leading predictions of Scripture, reminding you 
that the existence of these prophecies proves beyond 
question the being/ of a God who gave them. 

A very slight acquaintance with the Bible will 
reveal the fact that almost at the opening of the 
sacred volume we are confronted with prophetic 
announcements. We find several in connection with 
the events which transpired in the garden of Eden. 
There was one fearfully verified in the sad history of 
the whole human family, which was pronounced 
before the fall : "In the day thou eatest thereof 
thou shalt surely die." None but God could truth- 
fully say this, for none but he could know what the 



8o 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



result would be upon the eating, by our first parents, 
of the fruit of the forbidden tree. And yet this 
prediction was literally fulfilled. The devil had met 
this prophetic declaration of the Almighty with a 
positive denial. His assertion made to the woman 
was, " Ye shall not surely die." The result demon- 
strated God's truthfulness, and that Satan was a liar 
from the beginning. Never was " death'''' more real, 
more terrible, than that which followed the revelation 
of the divine injunction in the garden. Then died 
man's holiness and happiness, his delightful com- 
munion with God, his innocence, his joy, his peace. 
Then died his privilege of securing eternal felicity by 
his own works ; and in that same disastrous moment 
death temporal seized upon his body, and death 
spiritual and eternal fastened upon his soul. What 
an awful fulfillment of the first recorded prediction ! 
Then immediately after the fall there are three 
predictions : one concerning Eve, " In sorrow shalt 
thou bring forth children ;" one concerning Adam, 
" In the sweat of thy face and in sorrow shalt thou 
eat bread all thy- days, for dust thou art, and unto 
dust shalt thou return ;" and one concerning Satan, 
the tempter — the most remarkable of all, because it 
contains a clear prediction of Christ, " I will put 
enmity between thee and the woman, and between 
thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and 
thou shalt bruise his heel." "Without pausing to 
enter upon a minute investigation of these prophe- 
cies, we merely cite them, and ask, who but a God 
of infinite knowledge could have known the things 



FOR EARTHL Y FIRESIDES. 8 1 

here distinctly stated ? Eve was not j r et a mother ; 
Adam had not yet tilled the earth ; Christ, the seed 
of the woman, did not come to bruise the serpent's 
head until four thousand years after the utterance of 
this prophecy. Upon t^ie very threshold of the Scrip- 
ture record then — at the very dawn of history — 
we find proof from prophecy of the existence of an 
omniscient God. 

Passing, now, over all intervening events to the 
deluge, 1500 years after the creation, we find five 
predictions of a character so remarkable that we 
must notice them. The first is the prediction of the 
flood itself, which, according to the authority of the 
best chronologists, did not take place till 120 years 
after it was foretold. The second is the prediction, 
after the flood, that never again should the world he 
destroyed with water ; which fact, of course, could be 
known alone to an omniscient Being. The third, 
fourth, and fifth, are the predictions relating to the 
three sons of Noah / Shem, Ham and Japheth, and 
their descendants, which are recorded in the ninth 
chapter of Genesis, and are of so marked a charac- 
ter that they have arrested the attention of all 
thoughtful readers of the sacred volume. This pre- 
diction is given us by Moses, in the following lan- 
guage : " Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of servants 
shall he be unto his brethren." " Blessed be the 
Lord God of Shem ; and Canaan shall be his servant. 
God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the 
tents of Shem ; and Canaan shall be his servant." 
A special malediction is here pronounced upon the 
6 



82 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



descendants of Hani, for his sin, and it is declared 
that they should be " servants of servants," that is, 
a vile, degraded, servile and enslaved people, upon 
the earth. That this should be the general character 
of the descendants of this son of Noah, is most dis- 
tinctly affirmed. Not that certain branches of the 
families descending from him, or certain individuals 
of those families, might not be greatly blessed, nor 
that all of his descendants should be, at all times, 
under the curse ; but that in the main, and as a gen- 
eral rule, the peoples descending from Ham were to 
be a low, base, and servile class, and that from them 
were to be taken, in the future, the " hewers of wood 
and the drawers of water" to their more favored 
brethren.* 



* Bishop Newton, in his learned exposition of the prophecies, instead 
of the reading, ." Cursed be Canaan," of the received version, suggests, 
as the true reading, " Cursed be Ham, the father of Canaan ;" and after 
supporting this reading with several considerations, and by reference to 
other authorities, makes the following remarks : " By this reading, all 
the three sons of Noah are included in the prophecy; whereas, other- 
wise, Ham, who was the offender, is excluded, or is only punished in 
one of his children. Ham is characterized as the father of Canaan, 
particularly, for the greater encouragement of the Israelites, who were 
going to invade the land of Canaan : and when it is said, ' Cursed be 
Ham, the father of Canaan a servant of servants shall he be unto his 
brethren ;' it is implied that his whole race was devoted to servitude, but 
particularly the Canaanites." Not that this was to take effect immedi- 
ately, but was to be fulfilled in process of time, when they should for- 
feit their liberties by their wickedness. Ham at first subdued some of 
the posterity of Shem, as Canaan sometimes conquered Japheth; the 
Carthagenians, who were originally Canaanites, did, particularly in 
Spain and Italy; but in time they were to be subdued, and to become 
servants to Shem and Japheth; and the change of their fortune from 
good to bad would render the curse still more visible. Egypt was the 
land of Ham, as it is often called in Scripture, and for many years it 
was a great and flourishing kingdom; but it was subdued by the Per- 
sians, who descended from Shem, and afterwards by the Grecians, who 



FOR EAR TIIL T FIRESIDES. 83 

Behold now this prediction and its fulfillment ! 
From Ham have descended such peoples as the early 
inhabitants of Palestine and Syria, and the present 
inhabitants of Egypt and Africa. The Hivites, 
Hittites, Jebusites,Amorites,Gergashites, Arkites, and 
all the peoples known in general as the Canaanites, 
afterwards driven out of Palestine by the Israelites, 
were among the descendants of this son of Noah. 
If, then, we look at profane history, we shall perceive 
a most remarkable fulfillment of this early prediction 
— for nothing is more true, or susceptible of a clearer 
demonstration from the history of the world, than 
that the descendants of Ham have been the most 
servile of all the inhabitants of the earth. 

But a special blessing is pronounced upon Shem : 
" Blessed be the Lord God of Shem" or " Blessed of 
the Lord God be Shem." And how has this predic- 
tion been fulfilled in his descendants ! From him 
have come such nations as the Persians and Assyri- 
ans, the Lydians, and generally the inhabitants of 
Middle Asia. Probably also the modern Hindoos are 
his descendants, and certainly the Jews. As we read 
in sacred and profane history the records of the 
nations descended from Shem, we will see that none 

descended from Japheth ; and from that time to this it hath constantly 
been in subjection to some or other of the posterity of Shem or Japheth. 
The whole continent of Africa was peopled principally by the children 
of Ham; and for how many ages have the better parts of that country 
lain under the dominion of the Romans, and then of the Saracens, and 
now of the Turks! in what wickedness, ignorance, barbarity, slavery, 
misery, live most of the inhabitants ! And of the poor negroes, how 
many hundreds every year are sold and bought like beasts in the mar- 
ket, and are conveyed from one quarter of the world, to do the work of 
beasts in another! 



§4 HE A VBNL T LIGHT 

but God could have foreknown that they would "be 
so blessed. 

It is, however, in Japheth that we see the most 
striking fulfillment of these early predictions. The 
special promise to Japheth is that he shall be 
enlarged : " God shall enlarge Japheth /" aud most 
strikingly has this prophecy been fulfilled. From 
Japheth have descended all those peoples who settled 
northern Asia; thence, stretching out w T estwardly, 
they filled, in process of time, the whole of Europe. 
The entire continent of America is now occupied by 
them, and the process of enlargement is still going 
forward. Where will not the enterprise of the 
Anglo-Saxons lead them ? Who but God could have 
foreseen all this, and announced it by the mouth of 
Noah forty-three hundred years ago ? And in regard 
to these predictions there can be no mistake. There 
is no obscurity about them. They are as clear and 
as plain as it is possible to make them in so few 
words. Ham is cursed, and the special form in 
which the curse is to come is that of servitude. We 
hioio who have descended from this son of Noah, 
and we know that during all the ages, and now, this 
curse rests upon them. If a historian, utterly unac- 
quainted with this ancient prophecy, were to write 
the history of the nations known to have descended 
from Ham, his record of them would be but a com- 
mentary upon this prediction. 

Shem was blessed. We know likewise what peoples 
have descended from this son of Noah ; and we know 
that their condition has been in the main infinitely 



FOR EARTHLY FIRESIDES. 85 

superior to that of the descendants of Ham. There 
is in this no conjecture. It is as certain as any thing 
can be made by the teachings of history. To Shem 
it was promised that Canaan should be his servant. 
This was the special blessing to him, as the servitude 
was the special curse to Ham. Nothing is clearer 
than that this, too, has been fulfilled. While occa- 
sionally, and as an exception, some nation, tribe or 
people, descended from Ham, attained temporary 
dominion over a portion of the children of Shem, 
yet in the main, during all the ages, the descendants 
of Ham have been the bondmen of earth. Without 
asserting the right or wrong of slavery, this has been 
a fact so patent to the world that it can not be 
denied. 

"God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dioell 
in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his 
servant" What can be more clear than the fulfill- 
ment of this promise? Has not Japheth been 
enlarged ? and now, after this prediction has stood 
for forty-three hundred years, behold that wonderful 
people, the Anglo-Saxons, stretching, with their 
language and their Christian civilization, over the 
entire earth, promising to bring under their authority 
the whole habitable globe. 

Who, we ask again, could have foreknown and 
foretold the different destinies of these three sons of 
Noah ? Behold these predictions upon record ! Who 
recorded them ? Is there not a God t 

We must, however, press on to glance at other 
predictions fully as remarkable as those already 



86 



HE A VENL r LIGHT 



noticed. In the last words of the patriarch Jacob to 
his sons (Genesis, 49th chapter), we have twelve 
distinct predictions, some of which were not fulfilled 
until the patriarch had been in his grave over two 
thousand years. 

Of these predictions there is one requiring special 
notice. It is the prophecy concerning Judah, recorded 
in the 10th verse of this 49th chapter of Genesis : 
" The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a 
lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come ; 
and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." 
The Hebrew word here translated " scepter" means 
also a ?vd, which was an emblem of tribeship. 
" Shiloh" means one sent, and all the most judicious 
commentators, both ancient and modern, both Jews 
and Christians, have understood by this designation, 
the Messiah, of whose coming into the world in the 
fullness of time, the Old Testament makes such 
frequent mention. This, then, is a most remarkable 
prediction concerning the coming of Christ ; and the 
declaration is, that the rod of office, and the officer 
or judge by which Judah shall be known as a distinct 
tribe in Israel, shall not depart until Christ shall 
come, unto whom there shall be a remarkable gath- 
ering of the people. In other words, Judah should 
exist as a distinct tribe until the coming of Christ. 
And most wonderfully was this prophecy fulfilled. 
Amid all the convulsions, the revolutions, the wars, 
the captivities, to which the twelve tribes were sub- 
jected, Judah never lost her identity. Though ten 
of the twelve tribes were carried away into captivity, 



FOR EARTHLY FIRESIDES. 87 

in which they became so intermixed as to lose their 
tribeship, Judah was preserved, in the providence of 
God, from such a fate. And this continued until 
forty years after the death of Christ upon the cross 
at Jerusalem. Then, in the Roman conquest, the 
scepter departed ; then Judah lost her identity ; and 
from that day to this, no distinction exists between 
them and other Jews. Who, but a God of infinite 
prescience, could have foreknown this ? Who could 
have foretold it, but he who is from everlasting to 
everlasting, and who knows the end from the begin- 
ning ? Surely, there is a God, and the existence of 
such predictions declare it. 

In the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses fore- 
told, minutely, the present unhappy condition of the 
Israelites. Who but God could have told him that 
this peculiar people should have continued upon the 
earth for so many ages ? Who could have foreseen 
that they would have been scattered throughout all 
the nations of the earth, and yet have remained, 
amid all, a distinct people ? Who could have fore- 
known their persecutions, their sufferings, their trials, 
their judgments, for so many centuries? We need 
not ask. Read the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy, 
and compare the minute prophecies there recorded 
with the past history and present condition of the 
Jews — and then doubt, if you can, the divine exist- 
ence. 

Passing over scores of interesting predictions, we 
invite your attention to some of a most remarkable 
character, recorded by Isaiah. This prophet fore- 



88 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



tells the birth of Cyrus, the Medo-Persian prince and 
conqueror, nearly two hundred years before he is born, 
and calls him by name. His parents were heathen, 
and of course knew nothing of the fact that this pro- 
phecy was on record. But to these heathen parents, 
thus ignorant of the purposes of Jehovah, a child is 
born. They call him Cyrus — just the name which 
Isaiah had already, by divine direction, placed upon 
record. The prophet informs us of his exploits — 
especially his successful invasion of the Babylonian 
empire, his overthrow of that mighty kingdom, the 
taking and sacking of the capital city, the release 
of the Jews, and their return, by his order, to their 
own land. And all this is predicted with a minute- 
ness of detail which is truly remarkable. Hear the 
language of inspiration : " Thus saith the Lord, thy 
Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb : 
I am the Lord that maketh all things ; that stretch- 
eth forth the heavens alone ; that spreadeth abroad 
the earth by myself; that frustrateth the tokens of 
the liars, and maketh diviners mad ; that turneth 
Avise men backward, and maketh their knowledge 
foolish ; that connrmeth the word of his servant, and 
performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith 
to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited ; and to the 
cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise 
up the decayed places thereof ; that saith to the deep, 
Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers ; that saith of 
Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my 
pleasure ; even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be 
built ; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be 



FOR EARTHLT FIRESIDES. §9 

laid." " Thus saith the Lord to Lis anointed, to 
Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue 
nations before him; and I will loose the loins of 
kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates ; and 
the gates shall not be shut ; 1 will go before thee 
and make the crooked places straight ; I will break 
in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the 
bars of iron ; and I will give thee the treasures of 
darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that 
thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee 
by thy name, am the God of Israel ; for Jacob, my 
servant's sake, and Israel, mine elect, I have even 
called thee by thy name ; I have surnamed thee, 
though thou hast not known me ; that they may 
know, from the rising of the sun, and from the west, 
that there is none beside me ; I am the Lord, and 
there is none else ; I form the light, and create dark- 
ness ; I make peace, and create evil ; I, the Lord, do 
all these things" (Isaiah xliv., 24, 28 ; xlv., 1, 7.) 
Says the distinguished Bishop Newton, in explana- 
tion of this prophecy : " Cyrus, who was the con- 
queror of Babylon, and transferred the empire from 
the Babylonians to the Medes and Persians, was par- 
ticularly foretold, by name (Is. xliv., 28; xlv., 1), 
above a hundred years before he was born. He is 
honored with the appellation of the ' Lord's 
annointecl,' and the Lord is said to 'have holden 
his right hand,' and to have ' girded him,' (Is. xlv., 
1, 5), and he was raised up to be an instrument of 
Providence for great purposes, and was certainly a 
person of very extraordinary endowments — though 



9° HEAVENLY LIGHT 

we should allow that Xenophon had a little exceeded 
the truth, and had drawn his portrait beyond the 
reality. It was promised that he should be a great 
conqueror, should ' subdue nations before him,' (Is. 
xlv., 1), 'and I will loose the loin of kings, to open 
before him the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall 
not be shut ;' and he subdued several kings, and took 
several cities — particularly Sardis and Babylon ; 
and extended his conquests over all Asia, from the 
river Indus to the JEgean Sea. It was promised 
that he should find great spoil and treasure among- 
the conquered nations; (Is. xiv., 3), 'I will give 
thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of 
secret places.' And the riches which Cyrus found in 
his conquests, amounted to a prodigious value in 
Pliny's account ; nor can we wonder at it, for those 
parts of Asia, at that time, abounded in wealth and 
luxury. Babylon had been heaping up treasures for 
many years ; and the riches of Croesus, King of 
Lydia, whom Cyrus conquered and took prisoner, 
are, in a manner, become proverbial." 

Isaiah also foretells the overthrow of Syria, the 
degradation of Egypt — which was at this time one 
of the most flourishing nations on earth, the destruc- 
tion of the populous city of Tyre, the judgments to 
come upon Jerusalem, the coming, character, suffer- 
ings, and death of Christ, and the future day of 
millennial glory which is to dawn upon the earth. 
The writings of Jeremiah, Zechariah, Amos, Joel, 
Habakkuk, Jonah and Malachi, are also full of pro- 
phecies ; but the book of Daniel is perhaps more 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 9 1 

remarkable, even, than all the rest. This prophet 
predicts the downfall of the dynasties of the early- 
world — the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and Mace- 
donian. He foretells the rise of the Koman king- 
dom and its characteristics, the full establishment of 
the Christian church by Christ, and its influence and 
power upon the earth. He foretells the rise of the 
Papacy, and with a minuteness which can alone be 
of God, he details the peculiar workings of that most 
remarkable anti-Christian power. Kead the book of 
Daniel, in the light of history, and doubt, if you can, 
the Divine existence.- So particular and so wonder- 
ful are the prophecies of Daniel, that infidel writers 
have affirmed — of course without a particle of proof 
— that they must have been written after the events 
referred to had transpired. 

But it is not in the Old Testament alone that we 
find these remarkable predictions. The New Testa- 
ment abounds with them. The birth both of John 
the Baptist and the Messiah, the rise of the Papal 
power, and the destruction of Jerusalem are all 
minutely foretold. Christ foretold his own cruel 
death and his resurrection from the grave, while 
Paul describes so minutely the peculiarities of the 
Roman Catholic hierarchy, in its "forbidding to 
marry, and commanding to abstain from meats," 
that the likeness has been always and without diffi- 
culty recognized. And then, as is well known, the 
larger portion of the book of Revelation is a mass 
of predictions touching the Papacy, Mohamedanism, 
Paganism and the true religion, covering, in its grand 



9 2 HE A VBNL T LIGHT 

and comprehensive sweep, all the leading events of 
both church and state to the end of time — being, 
indeed, a summary of the earth's future. John, in 
the Isle of Patmos, was permitted to see by the eye 
of prophetic vision, the grand summing up of the 
world's drama, and under the guidance of the Holy 
Ghost, recorded the closing scenes of earthly history. 

Viewed indeed as a whole, from the beginning to 
the end, there is nothing more remarkable, more 
striking, in Scripture, than its hundreds of predic- 
tions. On the supposition of God's existence, and 
only on this supposition, can we account for them. 
These prophecies exist. We can not be deceived in 
regard to them. There they are, and we ask, How 
came they there f Will the infidel, the atheist, answer? 

And now, in conclusion, there are two predictions 
of Scripture to which the reader's attention is partic- 
ularly called. 

The first is in those words so full of hope to a 
world lying in wickedness : " Believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." This may be 
viewed as a prophetic promise or covenant. The 
author of it is that God who has placed upon record 
all the predictions to which we have now referred. 
The fulfillment of this promise rests with the same 
glorious One who has so often and so signally veri- 
fied all the predictions of his Word. Not more faith- 
fully has he ratified his covenant with Noah, with 
Abraham, and with David, than with every one 
who, in the past, has accepted of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Could the windows of heaven be opened 



FOR EAR THE Y FIRESIDES. 93 

this hour, and could we look in upon the happy mil- 
lions there striking their golden harps, and waving 
their palms of victory, we should then have a glo- 
rious confirmation of God's willingness and power to 
remember and to ratify, in Christ, the covenant made 
with every believing soul. Reader, remember that 
he who has promised to save every soul which trusts 
in Jesus, is the same Almighty God who, for six 
thousand years, has, in times and ways numerous and 
striking, demonstrated his absolute faithfulness and 
truth. Will you, then, not trust Him? 

But, in the second place, let it be considered that 
he who has said, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and thou shalt be saved," hath also said, " He that 
believeth not, shall be damned." Ponder these terri- 
ble words — terrible, because recorded by One who 
changes not. And yet these words, true as they are, 
have terrors only to those resolved to live and die 
out of Christ. Are you, reader, of this number? 
Is your mind made up ? Have you concluded to rest 
quietly as you are ? to make no effort to secure an 
interest in the righteousness of Christ? Then, in 
the last quoted words, your doom is written : " He 
that believeth not, shall be damned." Jehovah hath 
spoken, and he will not retract : " The wicked shall 
be turned into hell, with all the nations that forget 
God." 



CHAPTER VI. 



" To common sense, great nature's course proclaims 
A Deity: when mankind falls asleep, 
A miracle is sent, as an alarm, 
To wake the world, and prove Him o'er again, 
By recent argument, but not more strong." Young. 

Many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he 
did."— John ii., 23. 



We presented, in the last chapter, the argument for 
the divine existence, as drawn from the prophecies 
recorded in Scripture. We saw that these were 
numerous — very clear, specific and minute ; that 
there could be no doubt as to their being what they 
purport to be — predictions of events which were 
future when the predictions were uttered ; and being 
such, the conclusion is irresistible — that there is an 
omniscient God, who alone could know and reveal 
what, in the very nature of the case, must be hidden 
from the mind of man. This argument is one, the 
force of which even a child can comprehend. God 
only can knoiv, with certainty, future events. The 
Bible, however, is full of prophecies, many of which 



96 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

are even now in process of fulfillment. TJiere must, 
then, be a God who placed them upon record. 

In this chapter, the reader is invited to the consid- 
eration of an argument fully as conclusive, when 
rightly viewed, as the one from prophecy. It is the 
argument from miracles, which may be stated thus : 

Certain things have been done, during the progress 
of the ages, a record of which we have in Scripture, 
which are out of the ordinary course of nature. These 
are called Miracles ; and, being acts manifestly above 
the power and ability of man, there 'must be an 
Omnipotent Being who could alone perform them. 
Under the head of Miracles, we class all such acts as 
the creation of all things from nothing ; the instan- 
taneous changing of water into blood or wine ; the 
parting of the waves of a sea or a river, so that, 
rising in a wall upon either hand, men have been 
enabled to pass through, as upon dry ground ; the 
dropping of manna from heaven ; the bringing of 
streams of water from the side of a rock, by the blow 
of a rod ; the fierce burning of a bush, yet its remain- 
ing unconsumed ; the causing of iron to rise at com- 
mand from the bottom of a stream, and float like 
cork upon the surface of the water; the overthrow 
of the most substantial walls built for the defence 
of a wealthy and powerful city, by simple blasts blown 
upon rams' horns ; the checking of the earth in its 
diurnal revolution, so that the day is prolonged, 
without any derangement in the economy of nature ; 
the preservation of life, when men have been cast 
into a furnace of fire, heated to a seven-fold intensity ; 



FOR EAR THE T FIRESIDES. 9 7 

the destruction of one hundred and sixty -five thou- 
sand warriors in one night, without visible means of 
death, to preserve a righteous nation from devasta- 
tion ; the feeding of thousands, again and again, with 
food which, at the first, would not suffice for five 
hungry laborers, and yet there being a surplus left, 
sufficient for the wants of hundreds ; the instanta- 
neous healing of the sick and the leprous ; the open- 
iug of the eyes of the blind, and the ears of the 
deaf ; the unloosing of the tongues of the dumb, and 
the restoration to perfect health of the halt, the par- 
alytic, and the withered ; the casting out of devils, 
and the raising of the dead to full life and vigor ; 
and all done instantaneously, without the use of ordi- 
nary means and agencies, by a simple touch, or look, 
or word — these are the things which we call mirac- 
ulous, and which, having been done at different times 
during the progress of the ages, prove the being of a 
God. 

Now, there is only one point to be determined in 
this whole matter, only one question to be answered : 
Have miracles been performed? or, rather, has there 
ever been a thing done on earth which is truly mirac- 
ulous? — for one true miracle would as really prove 
the being of a God, as ten thousand ; for the power 
adequate to one such deed, is adequate to any num- 
ber. You will perceive, then, that we have before 
us a simple question of fact. Have miracles ever 
been wrought ? How do we know it ? Have we 
evidence sufficient to satisfy us of the fact ? 

Of course, intelligent infidels, perceiving readily 
7 



9$ HEA VENL T LIGHT 

the effect of admitting the fact of miracles, have 
done every thing in their power to make it appear 
that they are impossible. Mr. Hume framed a cele- 
brated argument, which skeptics, the world over, 
regarded at the time as unanswerable. We give this 
argument, in his own words : "A miracle," says Mr. 
Hume, " supported by any human testimony, is more 
properly a subject of derision than of argument. No 
testimony of any kind of miracle can ever possibly 
amount to a probability." " We establish it as a 
maxim, that no human testimony can have such force 
as to prove a miracle, and make a just foundation 
for any system of religion." " Our belief or assur- 
ance of any fact from the report of eye-witnesses, is 
derived from no other principle than experience ; 
that is, our observation of the veracity of human 
testimony, and of the usual conformity of facts to 
the reports of witnesses. Now, if the fact attested 
partake of the marvelous — if it is such as has seldom 
fallen under our own observation — here is a contest 
of tfvo opposite experiences, of which the one destroys 
the other, as far as its force goes. Further, if the 
fact affirmed by the witness, instead of being only 
marvelous, is really miraculous — if, besides, the 
testimony, considered apart and in itself, amounts to 
an entire proof — in that case, there is proof against 
proof, of which the strongest must prevail. A mir- 
acle is a violation of the laws of nature ; and as a 
firm and unalterable experience has established these 
laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very 
nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from 



FOR EARTHLY FIRESIDES. 99 

experience can possibly be imagined. And if so, it 
is an undeniable consequence that it can not be sur- 
mounted by any proof whatever from testimony. A 
miracle, therefore, however attested, can never be 
rendered credible, even in the lowest degree." 

Now, this argument, stripped of its verbiage and 
laid bare, is simply this : "Firm and unalterable 
experience " proves the uniformity of the working of 
nature's laws. Experience also proves the fallibility 
of human testimony. Now, to believe in the viola- 
tion of the laws of nature — which experience shows 
to be immutable, because certain persons testify to 
it — is to rely upon a fallible witness, whose testi- 
mony can not be received against the unbroken expe- 
rience of the ages. This argument, though plausible, 
is deceptive and false. Hume assumes the point in 
debate in the first premise. We deny that " firm 
and unalterable experience " proves that nothing can 
occur except in conformity to the laws of nature. 
We claim that the experience of patriarchs and 
prophets and apostles — the experience of thousands 
in the early ages of the world, as well as in the days 
of Christ — proves just the contrary. And, then, 
there is a sophism in the second statement of the cel- 
ebrated infidel. He says that universal experience 
has proved the fallibility of human testimony. True ; 
and yet, notwithstanding this, mankind depend, in 
their most solemn interests, in their most weighty 
concerns, upon the testimony of their fellow men, 
even when their own experience does not confw v m that 
testimony. We believe and act upon the information 



I OO HE A VENL T EIGHT 

of competent and respectable travelers, though we 
know nothing personally of the scenes which they 
describe, and the events they narrate. "We never 
doubt the statements of such men as Bayard Taylor, 
Dr. Kane, Dr. Livingstone, and Captain Speke — 
though we never saw what they describe, nor expe- 
rienced what they depict. It is a sophism, then, for 
Hume to argue against the possibility of miracles, on 
the general ground of the admitted fallibility of 
human testimony ; for when properly authenticated, 
or when coming from a highly respectable source, 
men have always, and must always, rely upon it. 

But there is still another fallacy in this argument 
of Hume. It is in the statement that a " miracle is 
a violation of the laws of nature." How did Mr. 
Hume know this ? He did not know it ; nor is it 
true. The lawgiver may suspend the operation of a 
law for a time — he may arrest it temporarily — 
without in the least violating it. Miracles are things 
done under a temporary arrest, if you please, or sus- 
pension of the usual operations of nature ; but are 
not violations of any law. What law of nature was 
violated when Christ opened the eyes of the blind, 
unstopped the ears of the deaf, or healed the para- 
lytic ? What law was violated when manna was sent 
into the camp of Israel, to feed the starving hosts ; 
or when water was brought from the rock, to quench 
their thirst? That these things were out of the 
ordinary course, is cheerfully admitted ; but that in 
the production of any such results, any law was vio- 
lated, we most positively deny. 



FOR EARTH L T FIRESIDES. I O I 

And this is an argument of which the framer 
boasted, that "with the wise aud learned, it would 
be an everlasting check to all kinds of superstitious 
delusion, and consequently would be useful as long 
as the world endures." Vain boast ! The utter 
sophistry and ill-concealed fallacy of the whole argu- 
ment, subjects it to the contempt of every honest 
mind. It is scarcely credible that Hume himself 
could be deceived by it. 

The question, then, returns upon us: Have we 
sufficient evidence that miracles have been wrought ? 
May we believe that events out of the ordinary 
course of nature have occurred, as claimed in the 
unimpeaclied records of Scripture ? 

Let us consider, in answering these questions, a few 
specific cases : 

I. Take the parting of the waters of the Red Sea, 
the account of which we have by Moses, who was 
the leader of the Israelites at the time. Now, 
whether we shall believe what Moses here tells us, 
will depend on several considerations: 1. So far as 
we can judge by all the other writings of this man, 
is he a truthful person — one we can believe ? 
2. What were his opportunities of knowing that 
which he affirms ? 3. Had he any motive in deceiv- 
ing the world by a false narration ? 4. Did Moses 
make a record of this event, and proclaim it while 
there were those living who might have denied it, if it 
were not true? 5. Was it ever denied by any one 
competent to refute it ? Eemember the circum- 
stances attending the performance of this miracle. 



1 02 HEA VENL r LIGHT 

It was not done in a corner. Not less than three 
million persons, young, middle-aged, and old, saw it. 
Moses, who records it, tells them and their children 
of it, again and again, in after years. Moses had 
enemies, yet no one ever arose, among all that host, 
to say, "You have recorded what is false." How 
can this be accounted for, except on the ground that 
a notable miracle was there wrought, and that Moses 
tells the truth when he records it % 

II. Then take the bringing of water from the 
rock in the desert, when that mighty host was per- 
ishing of thirst. In the presence of thousands who 
were murmuring against him, who were all but ready 
to tear him in pieces, Moses stands up and smites a 
bare and flinty rock; and, upon the blow, there 
flows forth a stream which slacks their thirst for 
forty years. This event Moses records. He writes 
an account of it in the sacred scrolls of the nation. 
The statement is read annually, in their midst. It 
is related year by year, and generation by genera- 
tion. The people who are told that they witnessed 
these things, continue to follow Moses, respect his 
authority, and obey his commands. Now, how can 
all this be accounted for, unless that miracle was 
indeed wrought? If water had not been brought 
from that rock by the rod of Moses, would there not 
have appeared some one truthful enough to say so ? 
Would that whole host have bowed thus implicitly 
to a gross imposition ? To believe this, is to believe 
in what is more difficult to account for than a miracle 
itself. 



FOR EAR THL T FIRE SIDES. 1 03 

III. Then, too, consider the case of Joshua when 
he commanded the sun to stand still. This event 
was witnessed by thousands. It was done upon the 
day of a notable battle. Time was thus afforded 
the Israelites to overcome their enemies. Now, if 
Joshua had asserted what was never done, is it not 
incredible that not one of those thousands ever arose 
to deny it ? The miracle was related ; an account of 
it was incorporated with their sacred records. Nay, 
more ; it was made use of to bind those Jews to a 
system of religious observances which was altogether 
irksome to them. Joshua, and others who came 
after him, were continually saying to these Jews, 
" Obey these laws, submit to these rules and regula- 
tions, though irksome to you ; for the God of heaven, 
who appeared to stay the setting of the sun, has 
imposed them upon you." Now, if this miracle had 
not been performed, how soon would it have been 
denied ? But it never was. During all their gen- 
erations, it was believed ; and, to this day, no true 
Israelite is found bold enough and bad enough to 
deny it. 

The same remarks apply to all the miracles 
of the New Testament, as well. The cha/racter of 
the men who record them ; the manifest truthfulness 
of the other writings by the same persons ; the fact 
that there were, in nearly all, scores, and in some 
cases hundreds and thousands, who witnessed them, 
and yet that none ever denied the fact, though often- 
times the strongest motives impelled them so to do ; 
all these considerations compel us to believe that 



I °4 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

these events have taken place according to the Scrip- 
tures. Take the case of Christ raising Lazarus 
from the grave. This was done in the presence of 
many Jews who were bitterly opposed to him, and 
ready to seize upon every thing that could be con- 
strued into a ground of complaint. That Lazarus was 
dead and buried they knew. That the evangelists 
placed upon record the statement that Jesus raised 
him to life in the presence of many Jews, they also 
knew. Why, then, did no one ever arise to deny the 
assertion ? Gladly would they have done so if they 
could ; but they could not. The fact of the miracles, 
even the enemies of Jesus were compelled to admit ; 
and they were obliged to resort to the poor, mean, 
base, and wicked subterfuge of alleging that he 
performed them through power derived from Satan. 

And then, moreover, the credibility of the testi- 
mony touching miracles will appear in a still clearer 
light when we recall the fact that there is a total 
absence of all evidence that the persons through 
whom these wondrous works were wrought availed 
themselves of any influence thereby acquired to pro- 
mote any selfish end or pmyose. Had they been 
impostors, and had their miracles been only tricks of 
jugglery or legerdemain, there would have been evi- 
dence some where that the persons working these 
wonders made use of the influence they thus acquired 
to promote their own power, and advance their own 
consequence. But there is not one particle of testi- 
mony upon this point. That the people in whose 
presence these works were wrought, did believe that 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 1 05 

they witnessed miracles, must be admitted. Now, 
under those circumstances what would impostors 
have done ? Why, they would at once have turned 
to their own account the credulity of the people. 
They would have built upon this foundation a super- 
structure of self-aggrandizement and power. They 
would have drawn wealth from the duped crowds 
around them. They would soon have been found 
dwelling in palaces, with scores of menials attending 
upon them, and all the glory and pornp of a regal 
court surrounding them. Poets would have been 
hired to sing their praises, and historians to relate 
their wondrous deeds in all the v fulsome terms of 
oriental adulation. Moses and Joshua, like Achilles 
and Cyrus, would have had their Homer and Xeno- 
phon ; and Peter and John, like ^Eneas and Augustus, 
would have had their Virgil and their Horace. 

But instead of this, what do we behold ? A con- 
stant denial on the part of all these persons, that 
they wrought these works of their own power ; a 
continual reference to God as the only one to whom 
honor and glory are clue ; a refusal to take any gifts, 
to receive any emoluments, to arrogate to themselves 
any superiority on account of any thing which God 
has wrought through them. When they might have 
aspired to wealth and fame, they voluntarily prefer 
poverty and obscurity. They live in the humblest 
circumstances, and cheerfully adopt lives of the 
greatest austerity. If they were impostors, how 
can this be accounted for? Would unsanctified 
human nature have acted thus ? Granting that these 



io6 



HE A VENL Y LIGHT 



works were only successful tricks — yet certainly the 
people were imposed upon. How would not bad men 
have availed themselves of the influence acquired by 
their legerdemain to advance their worldly and 
selfish interests ? If Moses only deceived the people 
in all the wonders he wrought in Egypt and the 
wilderness ; if Joshua only misled them by some for- 
tunate display of jugglery when the sun seemed to 
stay itself in the heavens ; if Jesus mocked the lame, 
the blind, the sick, the leprous and the deaf, and only 
made them believe that they were healed when he 
knew they were not ; if Peter and John only tricked 
the people into a belief that what they wrought were 
indeed veritable miracles ; still, even infidels must 
admit that the people were truly deceived, and that 
these persons who wrought these wonders did thus 
acquire for a time a tremendous influence over them. 
Why, then, was this influence never employed for 
selfish ends, or to subserve the private purposes of 
these wonder-workers ? Can infidelity answer this 
question % It can not ; it never has, and it never 
can. The truth is, that human nature is always the 
same. There are wonder-workers now ; but do they 
refuse all emolument ? Are they willing to live in 
poverty when they can have wealth ? Do they 
choose privations when they can have luxury % We 
know they do not. They work their wonders only 
that they may acquire competence ; and if the thing 
does not pay — and pay well — they soon abandon 
it, and take to more lucrative pursuits. Why did 
not those through whom the miracles of Scripture 



FOR EARTHL Y FIRESIDES. 1 07 

■were wrought do likewise ? The only answer is, 
that they were not impostors ; that there is a God 
who wrought through them, and whose grace pre- 
vented them from falling under the dominion of 
these groveling purposes. 

The force of these considerations is yet further 
greatly enhanced by the fact that in working these 
miracles, the agents often exposed themselves to perse- 
cutions and to death. Now, if they were impostors, 
would they have gone forward as they did, when they 
had the certainty before them of the severest trials, 
and even in some cases of death itself? It is granted, 
that for influence, for power, for fame, for wealth, for 
luxury, men will brave almost any danger. But we 
have already seen that none of these things were 
motives actuating the persons working the miracles 
of Scripture. Yet they went forward. Though 
doomed to poverty, though expecting no reward of 
an earthly nature, though seeking no influence, no 
honors, no applause, they went forward manifestly 
led and guided by an impulse which is above them, 
which they neither can nor care to resist ; they went 
forward, though, to all human appearance, it is to 
their ruin. Take, as an illustration, the case of 
Elijah : This servant of the Lord lived in the days 
of the ungodly Ahab, and the diabolical Jezebel. See 
him proclaiming that for three years and six months 
there should be no rain in the land, except by his 
word. What a mark did he make of himself by 
this announcement, and especially how did he stand 
exposed, when in exact accordance with his declara- 



io8 



HE A VENL r LIGHT 



tion, the heavens became as brass, and the whole land 
mourned under the miraculous scourge ? What motive 
could have induced him thus to draw down upon 
himself the whole force of the godless government ? 
So, too, when at the close of those eventful years, we 
behold the prophet on the top of Carmel, mocking 
the priests of Baal, as recorded in the 18th chapter 
of 1st Kings, and when all their vain devices had 
failed, bringing fire from heaven in answer to his 
call,, and then turning, in all the majesty of a 
divinely-commissioned agent, upon the idolatrous 
devotees of the idol god, and commandiug four 
hundred of them to be put to death in the presence 
of the deluded monarch, how can his conduct be 
accounted for upon the ground that he was an 
impostor, and seeking by his tricks to deceive the 
people ? Is it not evident that he was under the 
guidance of an Almighty power, and that he was but 
seeking to show to an unbelieving generation, that 
there is indeed a God with whom are the issues 
of life and death ? Surely, no impartial reader can 
carefully study the record of these miracles, wrought 
in the face of such dangers, without being convinced 
that the agents who wrought them were under the 
control of a Divine power. 

Our position, then, in regard to this whole matter, 
is simply this : The testimony of the sacred writers 
is, beyond question, credible. When they write of 
other matters, they are believed. Their testimony 
has never been impeached. Even those who had the 
strongest motives to do so — their enemies and the 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 1 09 

enemies of the religion they promulgated — did never 
deny the fact of miracles. In the absence of all tes- 
timony to the contrary, then, the argument may be 
regarded as conclusive. Miracles have been wrought ; 
a Being of infinite power alone can perform such 
works ; and that Being is God. 

But the question is sometimes asked, " Why are 
not miracles wrought in our day ?" With the same 
propriety, we might inquire, "Why does not the 
work of creation go on now, as at the first ?" and 
" Why does not God make written revelations of his 
will, now, as formerly ?" " Why does he not commis- 
sion prophets now, as of old ?" The truth is, mira- 
cles belong to the founding period of religion. They 
were necessary, in laying the corner-stones of Christ- 
ianity, to convince a stupid, dark and benighted 
world, of the existence of a supreme power, and of 
the divinity of religion. But they are not necessary 
now. We have the experience of the world for eight- 
een hundred years. We have seen what religion can 
do, and what it is doing. The world is no longer in 
its infancy. It has now the finished canon of Scrip- 
ture. It has before it, the continued %oorhing of 
Christianity. It has the presence and power of the 
Holy Ghost ; and, as Abraham said to Dives, " if it 
believe not, then neither will it be convinced, though 
one rose from the dead." The truth is, there is no 
force in this inquiry. If we refuse to believe that 
miracles have ever been wrought because they are 
not continued to our day, we might, with equal pro- 
priety, refuse to believe that Columbus discovered 



HO HE A VENL T LIGHT 

America, because do new continents are now unfolded 
to the astonished gaze of man. 

And now the argument for the Divine existence is 
complete, and, as we view it, most conclusive. It has 
been strengthened with proofs drawn from the phe- 
nomena of the material world / from the powers and 
capabilities of the human soul • from the evidence of 
a moral government, as found in the history of our 
race ; from the existence of the Bible ; from the char- 
acter of the contents of that loonderful booh ; from 
the clear and undeniable prophecies which it contains, 
and from the miracles which it records. "What truth 
was ever placed upon a broader, fwme/r basis than 
this? 

And now, in concluding these chapters upon the 
Divine existence, one solemn truth forces itself upon 
us. Into the immediate presence of this wonderful 
Being — this dread and incomprehensible Jehovah — 
we shall soon, very soon, be ushered. As yet, we see 
him not. True, we know that he is. We can reason 
upon the subject, and draw our conclusions ; but in 
a little while we shall be called before his throne, to 
answer for our lives. Are we prepared for that sol- 
emn audience ? Have we made our peace with him ? 
Can we lie down upon our beds at night, feeling 
safe — being assured that if our eyes are opened only 
in eternity, that they will be opened upon the scenes 
of bliss and eternal joy, found at the right hand of 
God ? Eeader, what solemn questions are these ! 
And yet, perhaps you will close these pages, leaving 
these questions still unanswered. And yet, why 



FOR EARTH L T FIRESIDES. 1 1 1 

should yon? Behold, God proclaims a, full, & free, 
a present salvation, for every one who will believe in 
the Lord Jesus Christ ! Oh, how the heart bounds 
in recalling this glorious promise, and how yours 
should respond^ in hearing it ! Yes, a full, a free, a 
present pardon, for every one who will believe ! Will 
you believe ? Will you accept ? Will you live ? 
May God help you, by his Holy Spirit ; and to His 
name, through eternal ages, be all the praise. 

" Believe on the Loed Jesus Cheist, and thou 
shalt be saved." 



CHAPTER VII. 



" Whence but from heaven, could men unskilled in arts, 
In several ages born, in several parts, 
Weave such agreeing truths? or how, or why, 
Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie?" Dryden. 

'All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." — 2 Tim. iii., 16. 



Having, in preceding chapters, set forth arguments 
by which the fact of the Divine Existence can be 
demonstrated, we come now to consider certain ques- 
tions which lie at the very foundation of all our further 
investigations: Has this God, whose existence we 
have demonstrated, communicated his will to man f 
and if so, in what form has he done it, and ivhere 
shall we look for this communication f 

There is a book which claims to contain a record 
of the will of God. It is called the Bible, or " The 
Book ;" sometimes also denominated " the Scrip- 
hires" or " the Writings," by way of eminence. The 
writers of this " Bible," or " the Scriptures," claim 
that what they have written is indeed the very Word 
of God, and contains all that God would have his 
intelligent creatures know of himself, his counsels, 



114 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

his purposes and plans. In other words, they claim, 
in the language of Paul to Timothy, that "All Scrip- 
ture is given by inspiration of God," and that it is, 
in consequence, an infallible guide to man in all the 
matters of which it treats. 

It must be evident to every intelligent reader, that 
what is here claimed is of the utmost importance. 
If we have in the Bible an inspired record of the 
whole will of God, then this book becomes the 
umpire, or the authority of last resort, in all matters 
which appertain to our relations to God, both for 
this world and the next. How important, then, that 
we should give earnest heed to the settlement of this 
question, that we may have, for ourselves, an intelli- 
gent faith in this book, and that we may also be 
able to give others a reason of the hope that is 
in us. 

Two inquiries meet us at the threshold of our 
investigations : 

I. What is inspiration f And, 

II. How may we demonstrate the inspiration of the 
hook known as the Bible ? 

1. Then what is inspiration ? When Paul says 
to Timothy, "all Scripture is given by inspiration 
of God," what does he mean ? The word here 
translated " inspiration" is " theopneustos," " God in- 
breathed," or " inbreathed of God ;" as though the 
Apostle had said, "All Scripture came from God 
just as breath comes from a person breathing it 
' forth, and was communicated to those who recorded 
it just as breath might be thrown into their lungs 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES 1 1 5 

from the lungs of another." The whole idea here 
seems to be that of an outflowing from God of this 
Word, and an infloioing of the same into the minds 
of those who were to record it for the instruction of 
mankind. Like every thing else which God does, 
there is no doubt something of mystery as to the 
manner of this inspiration, while the fact of it can 
not be denied. Now, if the Bible has thus come 
forth from God, you can perceive with what propriety 
it is called the Word of God, and how true it is, 
tli at, like God himself, it must be the truth, all-suffi- 
cient and infallible, in all matters of which it treats. 
When it is said that at the first God breathed into 
Adam the breath of life, and he became a living 
soul, we understand that Adam must have been like 
God in knowledge, righteousness and holiness. So 
the Scriptures, if indeed thus outbreathed from God, 
must be like God. They are, and of necessity must 
be, a perfect, infallible, and absolute guide, in all the 
matters of which they treat. 

Lest, however, this definition of inspiration should 
be regarded as too general, let us descend somewhat 
into particulars, and illustrate what we mean by a 
reference to specific cases. As a fair example, take 
the case of Moses. When God was about to com- 
municate his will through this servant, what took 
place % Why, as we suppose, God, by his spirit, so 
moved upon the mind of Moses, took such possession 
of his mental faculties and moral powers, that he was 
incited to write just what God wished him to write, 
nothing more, nothing less ; and all that is written 



n6 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



under this moving, inciting, controlling influence, is 
said to be inspired, or given by inspiration. Of 
course, what Moses conceived and wrote under these 
circumstances, must have been just what God willed 
should be conceived and written. It is therefore 
God's will, his word, and must be like God himself 
— pure, holy, perfect, and infallible. And so of all 
the sacred writers. While being used by God for 
the purpose of recording his will, they were fully 
under Divine influence. They recorded only what 
God directed. By this was secured infallible truth 
in all their writings — both in the ideas they express, 
and in the manner of expression ; both in the 
thoughts and in the words. This, as we understand 
it, is inspiration. 

Now, if this definition of inspiration be correct, we 
shall have no difficulty in understanding the signifi- 
cation in which the word revelation is employed, 
when used to designate the whole Word of God. We 
speak of the Bible as "a revelation" but of course we 
are not to understand by this that it contains only 
what the waiters could not have known without 
direct communication from heaven. Much of histori- 
cal truth, many incidents and events found in the 
sacred volume, could not be strictly termed revela- 
tions. They are of such a nature that the sacred 
writers could, and, it is evident, did know them 
without the interference of the Holy Spirit. Much 
also afterward recorded, had no doubt existed in the 
form of traditions floating among the people. In 
the New Testament times, it is evident that Mat- 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 1 1 7 

thew, Luke and Paul, and the other sacred writers, 
are called upon to record much which could not in 
any proper sense be termed revelations — such as 
what fell under their own observation of what Christ 
did, and what they actually heard of his teachings 
— and yet it is evident that all their records are 
given lnj inspiration. The Holy Spirit directs the 
writers just wliat incidents, historical events, and 
circumstances, to relate ; and also so moves upon 
their minds while they make the record that they are 
guarded from the possibility of error. 

Inspiration, then, it will be seen, is not synony- 
mous with revelation. While all Scripture is given 
by direct inspiration, all is not directly revealed. 

In the language, then, of one* who has written 
more fully upon this point than it would suit our 
present purpose to do, we claim " that the Scriptures 
come to us directly from (rod, as a revelation of 
Spiritual truth w T hich we have no other means of 
knowing ; that to this end, the Spirit of God, resting 
upon, dwelling in, possessing and influencing the 
individuals chosen for the purpose, made them the 
medium through which to furnish this Divine commu- 
nication ; that these men were thus inspired, and that 
in their inspiration, they were not only preserved from 
error in their statements, but were also made infalli- 
ble teachers of the truth. What the Apostle Peter 
said of the Ancient Scriptures, we may now say of 
the entire canon, ' The prophecy came not, in old 

* Rev. J. A. Smith,, D.D., " The Spirit in the Word," page 122. 



n8 



HE A VENL r LIGHT 



time, by the will of man ; but holy men of God 
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.' " 

And now, 

II. How do we demonstrate the inspiration of the 
Bible? How do we prove that these writings are in 
this sense from God? Let it then be considered, 

1. That there is nothing impossible or improbable, 
in the claim of inspiration. 

That there is a God, we have already seen. Now 
what hinders this glorious Being from communicating 
his will to his creatures % What is there to prevent 
his moving upon the minds of such persons as he 
may select, to lead them to write his commands, his 
statutes and precepts, for the instruction and guidance 
of the world ? It is a fact which will not be denied, 
that the mind of man is as fully under the control 
of God, as any thing else in the universe. He made 
it, knows all its capabilities and powers, its secret 
springs, the motives which control it, and the desires 
and passions by which it is swayed ; and no reason 
can be assigned why he should not move upon it, and 
lead it to just such conclusions as he may elect. We 
know that oftentimes one human mind exerts a pow- 
erful influence upon another — leading it to give up 
old ideas and adopt new ones. We know that the 
wicked may and do acquire an almost unbounded influ- 
ence over others, by the strength of their mental 
powers, and that the righteous may be, and are, the 
means of untold good, by virtue of the impressions 
made by their renovated faculties upon other minds. 
If, then, one human and finite mind can thus influ- 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 1 1 9 

ence and guide another, impressing its own ideas and 
thoughts and feelings upon it, who will say that the 
infinite mind — that of God, the creator of all minds — 
can not control and govern the intellects of men, 
causing them to indite for the good of the world, 
just what he wills? 

Nay ; so far is this from being either impossible 
or improbable, it is highly probable that God has, 
just in this way, and no other, given his will to earth. 
He might have employed angels to make a record 
for man, of the truths which He desired to reveal. 
But reason tells us that, in a matter of so much inter- 
est, it is important that God should come into contact 
with man — the human be brought into contact with 
the divine. And this is done in inspiration. The 
Holy Spirit — the Third Person in the Trinity — takes 
possession of the faculties of the soul, makes his pres- 
ence and power known, and uses man — who is, most 
of all, interested in the result — to record the will 
of his Maker. There being no more difficulty in 
God's moving upon the human mind than upon the 
angelic, it appears, even to reason, highly probable 
that he would communicate directly with those for 
whose benefit the communications were made. And 
this, in inspiration, is all ^k claim* It is the infinite 
using the finite mind, to impart his will for the 
enlightenment and salvation of the world. Is it not 
highly probable that this has been done? But, 

2. The writers of Scripture claim inspiration for 
the contents of the sacred volume. Perhaps some 
may object that the writers themselves are not to be 



I 2 O HE A VENL T LIGHT 

admitted as witnesses in this matter. A moment's 
consideration will show you, however, that this objec- 
tion is not well taken. We saw, in our last chapter, 
that the writers of the Scriptures were good and reli- 
able witnesses in all questions of fact of which they 
speak. Their testimony has never been impeached. 
So far as we can judge, they are truthful men. That 
they are men possessing the frailties of humanity, 
we readily admit ; but we claim for them also a large 
share of the virtues of humanity. Were Moses or 
Isaiah or Daniel or Paul or Peter or John called 
upon any witness-stand on earth, their testimony 
upon all questions of fact would be received as read- 
ily, to say the least, as that of Washington, Jefferson, 
Adams, or Clay. When, then, these writers say that 
they write and speak not of themselves, but as they 
are guided and instructed by a Divine power within 
them, we presume they know what they say to be 
true. 

If the writers of Scripture were good men, they 
never could have claimed, in this matter, what is 
false; and if they had been had men, they would 
have taken all the glory of writing the Scriptures, to 
themselves. Why, to have written such a book as 
Isaiah, or the Proverbs, <5r the Book of Psalms, or 
the Epistle to the Romans, or any other portion of 
the Bible, would have been an honor so great that 
no wicked man would have failed to have claimed it. 
If Lord Byron, or Hume, or Bolingbroke, or Ches- 
terfield, had written a poem as sublime as Miriam's 
song of victory, or the 68th Psalm — or if either had 



FOR EAR THE T FIRESIDES. 121 

composed a prayer as heartfelt and touching and 
true to nature as Solomon's at the dedication of the 
'temple, or Daniel's in the captivity of Babylon, or 
that crowning summary of human wants, called 
"the Lord's Prayer," — or if either of them had 
written an oration as full of true eloquence as Paul's 
magnificent defence before King Agrippa — think 
you that he would have given the credit of it to 
another ? No, no ; far from it. If a bad man had 
written thus, he would have claimed the whole honor 
to himself. But the writers of the Scriptures could 
not have been bad men. The things written here 
could never have emanated from the mind of a 
depraved impostor. The writers must have been 
good men ; and if so, they never could have claimed 
inspiration, unless it had been true. Their testimony, 
then, is to be received. It is valuable and reliable 
on this question of fact. But, 

3. The nature of the contents of Scripture furnish 
proofs of their inspiration absolutely overwhelming . 
In descending to particulars under this division of 
the subject, it is difficult to know to what first to 
direct the reader's attention. If we look, 

1. At the Scriptures as a whole, considering them 
in their perfection, their glory, their beauty, their 
majesty, every dispassionate mind must conclude 
that a higher power than that of man must have 
been concerned in their production. If this is not 
true, then surely we can be shown a book some 
where of acknowledged human origin which can 
rival the Scriptures in the characteristics above 



122 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

named. But where is there such a book ? Take the 
works most highly prized among men ; those which, 
by the judgment of the world, are entitled to the 
regard of the ages ; those which, by reason of their 
intrinsic excellence, men will not let die ; and how 
far short of the Scriptures do they fall in their 
majesty, their beauty, their perfection ! Bring to 
the comparison the poems of Homer and Hesiod, the 
oldest poetical productions extant ; take the histories 
of Xenophon and Herodotus, the philosophical writ- 
ings of Plato and Socrates, or the works of the best 
and wisest of the ancients, and how do they all pale 
into insignificance before this wonderful book ? Or, 
if it is desired, bring to the test the prized produc- 
tions of modern minds ; the carefully penned disqui- 
sitions of Bacon, or the plays of Shakspeare ; the 
boasted creations of Milton and of Bunyan, or the 
elaborate treatises of Butler and of Edwards, and how 
mean, how contemptible do they appear when con- 
trasted with the sublime utterances of the Word of 
God ? If there is any doubt upon this point, let a 
chapter from Butler be first read, and then a chapter 
from Paul ; a page from Milton, and a page from 
Isaiah ; a play from Shakspeare, and the sermon on 
the Mount ; a section from Bacon, and the Revelation 
of St. John, and the dullest mind can readily perceive 
the world-wide difference. The one is manifestly 
superhuman, above and beyond the power of man ; 
the other, a mere creation of human learning and 
genius. The one is seen to be of heaven, the other 
of the earth. However great, and beautiful, and 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. I 2 3 

grand, the one may be, it is seen and felt to be but 
a greatness, beauty, and grandeur, to which man is 
competent, while the sublimity, the perfection, the 
glory of the other, is absolutely unapproachable. 
Ask the greatest genius on earth to write a code of 
laws like the Ten Commandments, or a sermon like 
that of Christ's upon the Mount, or a prayer like the 
Lord's Prayer, or a treatise on the eternal world, as 
pathetic and sublime as the closing chapters of the 
Apocalypse, and he would throw down his pen, after 
an impartial trial, pronouncing the feat impossible. 
The production of no painter, however skilled, ever 
equaled the brilliancy of a natural sunset, because 
the glories of the evening sky were spread by a 
Divine hand ; so no writings of man ever equaled 
the Bible, as all its utterances were given by 
inspiration of God. Then, 

2. If we consider tvhat the contents of this hook 
have accomplished in the direction of man's civiliza- 
tion, we will discover another argument that they 
were given by inspiration. Wherever the Bible has 
gone, wherever its contents have been read, and 
allowed to exert their legitimate influence upon the 
minds and hearts of men, there has come to earth her 
highest civilization. Look at Scotland, England and 
America, and contrast their condition with that of 
heathen and pagan lands. What makes the differ- 
ence ? The Chinese have the writings of Confucius, 
the Hindoos have their Shasters, the Mohammedans 
have their Koran, but why have they not our civili- 
zation ? The answer is, that they have not the booh 



1 24 HEA VENL T LIGHT 

of God. The Creator of man is alone the source of 
true light to the nations ; and where the Bible goes, 
there alone goes true civilization. 

This remark is rendered still more striking when 
we consider, that just in proportion as the truths of 
Scripture are perverted, or obscured, or mixed with 
traditions, just in that proportion will civilization 
suffer. Italy, Austria, Spain, Portugal, and Mexico, 
are illustrations of this fact. Bible truth in those 
lands means not an entire, but an emasculated reve- 
lation. They have but a portion of the Scriptures, 
and just that portion which the Papal church chooses 
to grant them. The te'achings of the Bible are here 
mixed with the teachings of men. What now is the 
result ? Plainly, a cramped, circumscribed, emascu- 
lated civilization. In France the Scriptures are more 
free, for there the Papal priests have less power ; 
and yet even in France, the civilization is not of that 
broad, that better type, which characterizes her 
neighbor across the channel. Indeed, so obvious is 
this fact the world over, that a graduated measure 
of national attainments in civilization might be made 
upon the simple knowledge of the degree to which 
each people possesses and uses the Bible. Let a 
scale be formed like a thermometer, and those 
nations and kingdoms with no knowledge of Scrip- 
ture might be seen to range at zero, and on a 
gradually rising scale, would be found the more 
favored people, just in the proportion of their Scrip- 
ture light. 

Why is this ? Have any other writings on earth 



FOR EARTH L Y FIRESIDES. I 2 5 

such power ? Did the productions of man ever thus 
affect the world's destiny ? If not, have we not here 
the evidence that a book having such an influence, 
has an origin higher than earth ? Certainly, the 
unprejudiced, it would seem, must admit that 
writings capable of effecting such radical changes in 
the structure of society, must have been given by 
inspiration of God. A Divine power alone could 
impart to doctrines and teachings such superhuman 
efficiency. 

3.' If toe examine tlie prophecies so thickly strewn 
throughout the sacred volume, v.w must conclude that 
the writers of the Bible were inspired. To many of 
the predictions of Scripture, reference has been made, 
iu a former chapter, as proving the being of God' 
and no lengthened consideration of them is now 
deemed necessary. It is only important to show 
that the Bible contains undeniable prophecies, which 
have found their accomplishment in every age, and 
which are now fulfilling, in the history of nations 
and individuals, to satisfy every intelligent person 
that the writers of those prophecies must have been 
inspired. They could not, of themselves, have known 
the things which they foretold. Look, for instance, 
at the prophecy concerning Ishmael and his descend- 
ants. This was one of the sons of Abraham, and it 
was predicted that he should be a " wild man, 1 '' — 
or, as it is in the Hebrew, a man like a wild ass in 
disposition — " that his hand should be against every 
man, and every man's hand against him ;" and yet 
that he should " dwell in the presence of all his 



126 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



brethren." These prophecies are found in the 16th and 
21st chapters of Genesis, and are remarkably specific. 
When Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, had been driven 
from her home by the severity of her mistress, it is said 
that the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain 
of water in the wilderness, and said to her, " I ivill 
multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be num- 
bered for multit/ude." How unlikely this result, under 
the circumstances ! A servant, driven from the face 
of her mistress — a, despised outcast — to be the mother 
of a great people ! Would any mere man have ven- 
tured such a prophecy as this ? But the angel says, 
further, " Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear 
a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael, because the 
Lord hath heard thy afflictiot. And he will be a 
wild man ; his hand will be against every man, 
and every man's hand against him / and he shall 
dwell in the presence of all his brethren." Look, 
now, at all the circumstances of this case, and see 
how unlikely it is that any mere man would have 
ventured upon such predictions as these. Here is 
the promise of a great people, from a despised out- 
cast, an Egyptian slave. This great nation was to 
descend from one who was to be a wild man, tur- 
bulent and warlike, who was to be involved in contin- 
ual strife, " whose hand was to be against every man, and 
every man's hand against him." Yet he was to dwell in 
the presence of all his brethren. They should neither 
be able to subdue him, nor banish him from their 
sight. Would any one, on his own responsibility, and 
having any regard for his reputation, venture such 



FOR EAR THE Y FIRESIDES. 12J 

strange conjectures as these, touching the future of 
any human being, or class of beings ? Upon the very- 
face of it, then, this prophecy bears the impress of a 
superhuman origin. Let us see how it was fulfilled. 

The Arabs and wild Bedouins of the Desert of 
Arabia, are, as we know, the descendants of Ishmael. 
And what has been their history ? What to-day is 
their character ? Does not this prophecy, uttered 
thirty-five hundred years ago, describe them exactly ? 
Other nations and other peoples change with time. 
The example of surrounding nations is sure to affect, 
more or less, the manners, the habits and the charac- 
ter of successive generations. But the Arab changes 
not. He remains the same turbulent, untamable, 
fearless marauder, which prophecy declared he would 
be, even before Ishmael was born. To-day, we have 
in the Bedouin robber, flying from place to place 
upon his well-trained steed, with " his hand against 
every man, and every man's hand against him," a 
standing demonstration before the eyes of all, that 
Scripture is inspired. 

Then again, look at the prophecies concerning 
Babylon and Tyre — the London and Paris of the 
ancient world. Of Babylon, it is said that she shall 
be utterly destroyed. Hear Isaiah : " Babylon, the 
glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' 
excellency, shall be as when God destroyed Sodom 
and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither 
shall it be dwelt in from generation to genera- 
tion ; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there ; 
neither shall the shepherds make their fold there ; 



128 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their 
houses shall be full of doleful creatures, 1 and owls 
shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there, and 
the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their deso- 
late houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces." 
What a vivid description is this of an utter over- 
throw ! And, as is well known, this is fully verified 
in the present condition of that once magnificent 
city. Travelers inform us that the ruin is most 
complete. The supposed site is covered with pools 
of stagnant water, and every thing is in perfect 
keeping with the terrible description of the prophet. 

A different fate, however, was predicted for the 
city of Tyre. She was not to be utterly destroyed, 
but was to be reduced very low ; indeed, so low that 
she would be, during future ages, only an obscure 
village, where fishermen should congregate, and 
whose nets should be spread upon the rocks which 
formed her foundations. Now, who but God could 
have foreseen the different destinies of these two 
cities, and have thus revealed them to the writers of 
the Bible ? The true site of Babylon has for ages 
been in doubt ; the probable site presents the appear- 
ance I have described ; while to-day, the once proud 
and opulent Tyre is but a cluster of fishermen's 
hovels by the sea. And this is only a specimen of 
the thousands of predictions on record in the Scrip- 
tures. We can not, therefore, doubt their having 
come from God, and that the writings which contain 
them must be inspired. 

4. Then, again, the wonderful acquaintance with 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 1 2 9 

human nature displayed in the Scriptures demonstrates 
llibir inspiration. None but God knows to perfection 
the human heart, and none but he can make such a 
record of its most secret workings as we find in the 
pages of the Bible. Infidels have often acknowl- 
edged this peculiarity of the Sacred Word, and have 
resorted to the Scriptures as the great text-book of 
human nature. This was the case with Lord Byron. 
He was a constant reader of the Bible — not for its 
religion, not for its morality, not for its doctrines, but 
largely for its wondrous unfolding of the springs of 
human actions. So with Shakspeare. This great 
dramatist, it is well known, is the poet of the human 
heart. He was probably more thoroughly acquainted 
with human nature than any other uninspired writer. 
And yet it is an undisputed fact that Shakspeare 
was a constant reader of the Scriptures. From that, 
as from a fountain, he drew the knowledge which he 
knew so well how to use. We ask, then, where did 
these writers of Scripture, these shepherds, and fish- 
ermen, and herdsmen, get this perfect knowledge of 
human nature ? It is perfect. They never make a 
mistake when writing of man. They never speak as 
though in doubt. All is positive knowledge with 
them. Whence did they receive it ? Will infidels 
answer f 

5. But still again ; the inspiration of the Scriptures 
is proven by their applicability to every person, to 
every class, and to every condition in life, and also to 
every age of the ivorld. The Bible never grows obso- 
lete. The world does not outgrow it. It keeps pace 



1 3 ° HE A VENL T LIGHT 

with the progress of science, and is as new and fresh 
to-day as when the earth was in its infancy. The 
young in every age and land find it the book for 
them ; the middle-aged and the old regard it as their 
richest treasure. The ignorant and the unlearned 
find wisdom and light in its pages, while the wisest 
and the most cultivated of earth bow in reverence 
before its sublime teachings. When Daniel Webster 
was dying, he found no consolation except in the 
pages of Scripture ; and he had read to him, again 
and again, the comforting passages of the 23rd 
Psalm. Was there no other book to which the dying 
statesman could appeal ? The whole field of human 
literature lay open before him. The treasures of 
science, of poetry, of philosophy, could be impressed 
into his service. The resources of his own great 
mind, the deductions of his own towering intellect, 
it might be thought, would have availed him in 
the hour of his trial. But no ; from all these he 
turned, and with the dependence and faith of a little 
child, sought in the inspired utterances of the Shep- 
herd King, support and comfort in the dying hour. 

When Sir Walter Scott was on his death-bed, he 
said to his son-in-law, " Lockhart, read to me." 
" From what book, sir ?" " Lockhart," said the 
great poet and novelist, and throwing' into his voice 
and manner unusual solemnity, "Lockhart, there is 
but one book /" No, no ; there is but one book, and 
simply because there is but one which is inspired, 
God has but one book on earth, and that is the Bible. 

Reader, is this wonderful book dear to you ? Con- 



FOR EARTH L T FIRESIDES. 1 3 I 

sider that, like Webster and Scott, you, too, must 
die. Sooner or later, the silver cord of life will be 
loosed, and the golden bowl broken at the cistern. 
You have but a frail hold upon existence. Are you 
ready for your change ? It is only in the Scriptures 
that you can obtain light for the dark future ; only 
here you can learn what God would have you do in 
order to eternal salvation. Search the Scriptures. 
Let them be to you as a lamp to the feet. You are 
treading a dark and dangerous pathway. Take 
them as the man of your counsel, and they will not 
fail to guide you to Christ, and through him to 
eternal felicity. 

" There wilt thou learn what, to thy ardent mind, 
Will make this world but a thorny pass 
To regions of delight ; man's natural life, 
With all its varied turmoil of ambition, 
But as the training of a wayward child 
To manly excellence; yea, death itself 
But as the painful birth of life unending." 



CHAPTER VIII. 



" O, vain philosophy ! Thou wandering light, 
Which hast so oft misled our steps, attend ! 
And prostrate at this heavenly shrine, lament 
Thy blindness, and forego thy pride : here cast 
Thy trophies down, undeck thyself of all 
Thy borrowed plumes, and own the fountain whence 
Thy hoary sons received the living fire 
Which animates the glowing page they penned." — Hodson. 

" Thy word is truth."— John xvii. 17. 



Having, in the last chapter, considered two ques- 
tions : namely j "What is inspiration f" and "Hoio 
do we 'prove the inspiration of the Bible f" we come 
now to answer the very important inquiry, " How do 
we know that the separate books which compose the 
Scriptures are those which have been given by inspira- 
tion of GodV In other words, "What assurance 
have we that the Bible, as at present constituted, is 
the Word of God ?" 

This question is by no means an unimportant one, 
inasmuch as there are writings which the Papal 
church admits into the sacred canon, which the 
Protestant church rejects as not of Divine authority. 
How, then, can we distinguish between the false and 



134 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

the true ; between the books which indeed are, and 
those which claim to be, the inspired Scriptures ? 
In answering this question, let us consider, 
1. TJie Old Testament Scriptures. This portion 
of the sacred volume is composed of thirty-nine 
books, written by a number of persons during a 
period of between eleven hundred and twelve hun- 
dred years. Now, are these thirty-nine books the 
ones precisely which God gave by inspiration to the 
world, and in which he embodied his will to the 
Jewish people ? 

To answer this question, let us consider, 
1, That it is incredible to suppose that God would 
give by inspiration such writings as the Bible con- 
tains, and yet not provide for thew transmission to 
future ages, in such form that thew authenticity 
could not be reasonably questioned. 

Let what we have said in the last chapter, touch- 
ing the inspiration of the sacred volume, be here 
considered, and the force of this remark will readily 
be seen. God, by his Holy Spirit, secured the writing 
of the Scriptures. They were not written for the 
early ages, or the first generations of men. They 
were evidently designed, as they were adapted, to be 
a light to all ages, even to the end of time. Now, 
is it not incredible, that a book thus given by Divine 
interposition, and for such a purpose, should be 
left to take care of itself ; to survive or perish ; to 
remain pure or to be corrupted ; to be entirely lost, 
or to so lose its identity in coming years that those 
for whom it was intended would be in doubt as to 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 135 

its being indeed the Book of God ? Surely, we must 
conclude, that the same Divine power which produced 
the Scriptures, would preserve them, and transmit 
them to future generations, with such testimonials 
of their genuineness, that there could not "be a 
reasonable question as to their being the very Word 
of God. 

This consideration is still further strengthened by 
the' fact that the moment the Scriptures are seen to 
be open to a reasonable doubt, that moment they 
cease to be of any practical benefit. If we have 
just grounds to say of any part of the Old or New 
Testament, that we seriously doubt its being from 
God, we of course lose confidence in it, and can not 
receive it as an infallible guide. God, who gave the 
Scriptures by inspiration, saw and knew this, and 
hence he could not be indifferent to the matter of 
handing these writings down to coming ages in such 
form that they should have authority as indeed of 
God. And if he could not be indifferent to a matter 
so vital, he could and did provide against it. So far 
as the probabilities of the case are concerned, the 
whole argument may be summed up in a word. 
God certainly never would have given the Scriptures 
by solemn inspiration, and then leave it a matter of 
doubt whether the peoples for whom they were 
intended could satisfy themselves that the books 
coming to them were the very Word of God. To 
conclude otherwise, would be an impeachment of the 
power, wisdom, and goodness of God. As further 
confirming this view, we notice, 



1 3 6 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

2. That the peculiar circumstances under which the 
sacred boohs were written would naturally secure for 
them the highest respect, and this respect would lead to 
their being guarded with great care, and transmitted 
in purity to succeeding generations. 

To illustrate this remark, take the five books of 
Moses. This person was selected by God to be the 
deliverer of Israel from Egyptian bondage, in the 
performance of which duty he wrought, through the 
power of God, many striking miracles in the presence 
of the Israelites, thus attesting his Divine commission. 
During the journey through the wilderness he held 
the wonderful interview with the Most High upon 
Mount Sinai, in the presence of the hosts of Israel, 
during which the Decalogue was given to him, 
written by the finger of God upon two tables of 
stone. Now, v)hen Moses wrote out the five books to 
which his name is affixed, and gave them to the 
Israelites, with the injunction that they should be 
sacredly preserved, as containing the Word of God, 
you will not fail to perceive that they would receive 
them as a most sacred deposit — as a treasure to be 
gua/rded with the utmost vigilance. They would 
naturally say, "We have seen how God has been 
with Moses, our leader, the writer of these books. 
We are the witnesses of the mighty works wrought 
through him. We know that God has guided him, 
and spoken to him, and through him, and now we 
must guard these God-given writings as we value our 
happiness, and the happiness of our children." Thus 
the Lord, by demonstrating in the presence of those 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 137 

who were to be the keepers of the sacred records, the 
Divifu com mission of the writers of Scripture, secured, 
in a great measure, their watchful guardianship over 
their high trust. Just as if one should now be able 
to convince the people that he was commissioned to 
bring a certain message from heaven, it could not 
be otherwise than that his message would be kept in 
most sacred remembrance, and be transmitted to 
future generations with fidelity and scrupulous 
regard. This would be the natural result. 

And then, what was true of Moses, is true of all 
the other Old Testament writers — Joshua, Samuel, 
Ezra, Nehemiah, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, 
and the whole of the lesser prophets, as they are 
called. These were all known to be men of high and 
saintly character ; known to be men of God ; and as 
their writings were completed and given to successive 
generations of Jews, they were added to the sacred 
records with the reverence due such august produc- 
tions, and transmitted with the utmost care. Now 
this is all very natural. Respect for the writers begat 
respect for their writings ; and when to this was 
added the firm conviction that what was written was 
indeed of God, we can perceive how the Scriptures 
of the Old Testament should descend from genera- 
tion to generation, just as God had given them to 
their authors. But, . 

3. We are not left to mere conjecture upon this 
point. It is a matter well attested in history, that 
the Jews, from the days of Moses, exercised uncom- 



I38 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

rnon vigilance to guard the purity of their sacred 
books, and allow no corruption of the sacred text. 

We read in Deuteronomy, xxxi. 25, 26, that when 
Moses had finished the first five books of Scripture, 
he " commanded the Levites which bore the ark of 
the covenant of the Lord, saying, take this book of 
the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the 
covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there 
for a witness against thee." And from this sacred 
resting-place it was brought out, from time to time, 
to be read and to be copied for the guidance and 
instruction of the people. Josephus tells us that 
every tribe had a copy, and we may safely presume 
that soon hundreds of copies were made by the 
priests and Levites, who found in this book the laws 
and rites prescribed for their daily religious services. 
We know, too, that their kings and rulers had copies, 
for it was expressly commanded, that when they 
should have a king, "He should write him a copy of 
this law in a book, out of that which is before the 
priests and Levites." The reader will not fail to 
notice how difficult, under these circumstances, it 
would be to add to, or take from, or alter in any way, 
these sacred books. The priests and Levites, the 
kings and judges, and all the people, high and low, 
were concerned in them, and each class would be a 
check on the other, even if any were disposed to alter 
the sacred records. 

And what was true of the books of Moses, was 
also true of all the subsequent books, as they were 
added from time to time. The whole nation knew 



FOR EAR TIIL Y FIRESIDES. 1 3 9 

of them. Ezra, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and 
all the writers down to Malachi, were men of char- 
acter, of note, of a national reputation. They were 
understood to write under the inspiration of the 
Almighty. What they wrote was designed for the 
whole people. Copies of their works were therefore 
at once made and read, and in many instances 
largely committed to memory. Every man and 
woman in Israel ; yea, even the children knew what 
and how many sacred books they had, and were 
conversant with their contents ; and no man, without 
the marks and characteristics of a true prophet, 
could be credited, or secure for his writings admis- 
sion into the sacred canon. 

Equally difficult would it be for mistakes to occur 
in copying these books. It is stated by some 
Jewish writers, that not only every chapter, but 
every word of the sacred record, was counted by the 
scribes ,' and not only every word, but every letter, so 
that those copies of the Scriptures which fell short 
one word, or one letter, even,weve pronounced defective, 
and either at once corrected, or thrown aside, never 
to be used. Such was the care, such the extreme 
caution, exercised by the Jews in guarding the 
oracles of God Those who question whether the 
books of Scripture, as we now have them, are indeed 
the same as those originally given, can not know the 
jealous care evinced in their preservation. But, 

4. Among all the accusations brought by Christ 
against the Jeivs in his day, we never find him charg- 
ing them with having corrupted the sacred books. 



1 40 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

He does accuse them of multiplying traditions of 
their own; of forsaking the Scriptures that they 
might follow those traditions ; but he no where even 
hints that they had been faithless to their trust, or 
careless in the great matter of preserving the sacred 
records pure and entire. This is very valuable 
testimony. These books, thus preserved by the 
Jews, Christ himself used and endorsed. He 
quoted from them again and again. He read 
from them in the synagogues. He says that he 
came to fulfill them. He commends them, and 
enjoins upon his hearers the duty of reading them. 
" Search the Scriptures," says he, "for in them ye 
think ye have eternal life, and they are they which 
testify of me." " The Scriptures " which Christ here 
commands his hearers to " search," are just the books 
of the Old Testament which we now have. Would 
he thus have spoken of them, if they were not the 
very Word of God ? If they had been corrupted or 
changed during the ages, would he then have said, 
" they testify of me ?" Would he have encouraged 
his hearers to " search " writings not of God, on the 
ground that in them they conceived, and conceived 
truly, that they had " eternal life ?" Nay, certainly, 
there could not be " eternal life " for any soul in 
books not inspired. 

But again, as is well known, Christ speaks of these 
Scriptures as an infallible and unchangeable rule 
of life, and declares that they will not fail in one jot 
or tittle until all be fulfilled. His lano-ua^e is, 
" Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or 



FOR EARTHL T FIRESIDES. 1 4 1 

the prophets ; I am not come to destroy, but to 
fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and 
earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass 
from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever, 
therefore, shall break one of these least command- 
ments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the 
least in the kingdom of heaven ; but whosoever shall 
do and teach them, the same shall be called great in 
the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew v. 17, 18, 19.) 
Our Saviour here, according to well attested Hebrew 
custom, speaks of the larger portion of the Old 
Testament under the term, "the law and the 
prophets ;" and he affirms of these Scriptures what 
could not be true unless they had been the pure Word 
of God. He declares that they are infallible, and 
that their every utterance shall be fulfilled. He 
condemns the man who shall break the least command 
recorded in them, and teach others to do the same ; 
and commends him who observes those commands, 
and leads others to their observance. But could he 
have done this, had not the Scriptures been indeed 
the Word of God ? 

Attention might also be called, in this connection, 
to those words of the Saviour, in which he says to 
his disciples : " These are the words which I spake 
unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things 
must be fulfilled which were written in the law of 
Moses, and in the prophets and in the Psalms con- 
cerning me." Here Christ cites the whole of the Old 
Testament as received b} T the Jews in his day. They 
made just this division of it — into the law, the 



1 4 2 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

Prophets, and the Psalms. The whole was the Book, 
the Scriptures, or the Truth, and was just what has 
been transmitted to us under the title of the Old 
Testament. Only one other declaration of Christ 
will be considered in this connection. In his mem- 
orable and touching prayer, recorded in the 17th 
chapter of John's Gospel, he uses this language : 
" Sanctify them through thy truth ; thy word is 
truth." Our Saviour here, without doubt alludes to 
the truth of God as then received and recognized by 
his followers, and which was embodied in their sacred 
writings. But if those works had been corrupted, 
could he have consistently asked the Father to use 
the truths which they contained as instruments of 
the sanctification of his followers ? Certainly not. 
Such a request, touching the sacred writings, clearly 
implies that they had come down to Christ's day well 
authenticated ; and this language of the Saviour 
endorses them fully as of God. In short, every 
allusion of Christ to the Scriptures, every quotation 
he makes from their pages, every utterance concern- 
ing them from his lips, but proves that in his days 
they were fully recognized as " given by inspiration 
of God, and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for 
correction, and for instruction in righteousness." 
This, then, "is well nigh conclusive, as we have the 
very same books in our hands this day, which were 
then approved by the immaculate Son of God. 

But the same thing is true of the inspired 
Apostles. Though they brought many accusations 
against the Jewish nation, unfaithfulness in regard 



FOR EAR THE Y FIRESIDES. 1 43 

to the sacred text was not one of them. Though the 
writings of Paul, and Peter, and James, and John, are 
full of warnings, admonitions and reproofs, yet they 
never, in a single instance, command the Jews to 
repent of the sin of altering, or in any way changing 
the sacred text. They accuse them of not obeying the 
Scriptures, of disregarding them, and misinterpreting 
them, but they are enabled always to appeal to them 
as indeed the very Word of God, unmutilated and 
unchanged. Indeed the chief advantage which the 
Apostles, in all their controversies, had over their 
Jewish antagonists, was their ability to quote against 
them their own Scriptures, as being the very Word 
of God. By turning to Peter's address upon the 
day of Pentecost, we will find an example in point. 
When some ascribed the remarkable effects witnessed 
on that occasion to the drunkenness of the disciples, 
Peter stood up and said nay, " but this is that which 
was spoken by the prophet Joel;" and then he 
quoted, almost word for word, the utterances of their 
own Scriptures against them. Nor will the tact and 
skill of Paul, in using this weapon, be forgotten. 
With what power does he wield it in his epistle to 
the Romans, when arguing against those who, in the 
Jewish nation, were going about to establish their 
own righteousness, " being ignorant of the righteous- 
ness of God !" How often do we find him saying, 
" as it is written," " as God said to our fathers," " as 
he said also in Hosea," " as David saith," etc. And 
then, in the epistle to the Hebrews, with what skill 
and adroitness does he argue throughout upon the 



1 44 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

declarations of God in the Old Testament ! The 
first verse of the first chapter shows the course he is 
to pursue : " God, who at sundry times, and in 
divers manners, spake in times past unto the 
fathers," etc. ; and then, with a more than human 
tact and power, he quotes passage after passage from 
their own Scriptures, proving that Jesus of Nazareth 
was indeed the Messiah. And these are but a speci- 
men of the course pursued by all the sacred penmen 
in the apostolic day. They quote largely the dec- 
larations of the Scriptures, just as they then existed, 
in favor of the truths of Christianity, and against the 
rejectors of Christ. How could this have been done 
if the Scriptures had not then been pure ? if they 
had not been just as given by inspiration of God ? 
The force of this position will be appreciated by 
every intelligent reader. 

5. If, now, it should be alleged that after the days 
of Christ the Old Testament Scriptures may have 
been corrupted by ignorant or designing men, it 
should not be forgotten, that /row Christ to the present 
time, there have been two great parties, each possessing 
the Old Testament Scriptures, each claiming them as 
inspired, and each loatching over them vrith a solici- 
tude vigilant and constant, lest there should be the 
least alteration or mutilation of the sacred text. 

The Jews, from the days of Christ, have continued 
to hold the Old Testament Scriptures ; and the 
Christians have received them also upon Christ's 
authority, as the very Word of God. And these two 
parties, both believing and holding the same books, 






FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 1 45 

have been, from that day to this, a check and 
restraint upon each other. When one portion of the 
Christian church added, about the beginning of the 
fifth century, the books known as the Apocrypha, it 
was in the face of the fact that these books were 
never recognized as inspired by the Jews ; were not 
written in Hebrew, like the other sacred books ; and 
were never quoted or sanctioned in any way by our 
Saviour and his Apostles. So far, then, as the testi- 
mony of Christ and his Apostles is concerned, and 
so far as the subsequent testimony, both of Jews and 
Christians goes, we know that what we now call the 
Old Testament is indeed the very Booh of God. But, 

6. We have still another witness to introduce. 
The catalogues, which from time to time along the 
ages were made of the sacred boohs, show that we have 
the true Bible in our hands to-day. 

It is a fact well attested in the history of the 
Church, that for generations the Jews divided their 
Scriptures into three parts, called " the Baw" " the 
Prophets" and the " Hagiographa" or " holy writ- 
ings" or " Psalms." This is the division, as we have 
already seen, which our Saviour makes in the 24th 
chapter of Luke, when he says that " all things must 
be fulfilled which are written in the Baw of Moses, 
and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning 
me." It was well known that by the Baiv, the Jews 
designated the five books of Moses ; by the Prophets, 
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jere- 
miah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, the twelve 
minor prophets, Job, Ezra, Esther, and Chronicles; 



1 46 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

and by the " Psalms," the Proverbs, the Song of 
Solomon, Ecclesiastes, and the book of Psalms. 

In numbering the sacred books, however, the Jews 
counted as one the two books of Samuel ; also the 
two of Kings, and the two of Chronicles. They also 
included under one head Ruth and Judges ; also Ezra 
and Nehemiah ; and also embraced in one, Jeremiah's 
prophecies and his Lamentations ; thus making, of 
what we count as twelve books, but six. They also 
summed up the twelve minor prophets into one 
book ; so that instead of thirty-nine, as we count 
them, they made but twenty-two. The object of 
this was to make the number of the sacred books 
accord with the number of letters in the Jewish 
alphabet, probably that by association they might 
aid the memory. 

This, as we find, is the exact number given by 
Josephus, whose intelligence as a witness concerning 
the Canon, can not be questioned. He says : 

" We have not an innumerable multitude of books 
among us, disagreeing from and contradicting each 
other, but only twenty-two books, which contain the 
records of all past times, which are justly believed 
to be divine ; and of them, five belong to Moses, 
which contain the laws and traditions of the origin 
of mankind until his death. This interval of time 
was little short of three thousand years ; but as to 
the time from the death of Moses until the reisjn 
of Artaxerxes, King of Persia, who reigned after 
Xerxes, the Prophets, who were after Moses, wrote 
down what was done in their time in thirteen books. 



FOR EARTHL T FIRESIDES. 1 47 

The remaining four boots contain hymns to God, 
and precepts for the conduct of life." 

A further testimony of this writer we have in the 
following words : 

" How firmly we have given credit to these books 
of our nation is evident by what we do ; for during 
so many ages as have already passed, no one has 
been so bold as either to add any thing, to take any 
thing from them, or to make any change in them ; 
but it becomes natural to all Jews, immediately, and 
from their birth, to esteem those books to contain 
divine doctrines, and to persist in them, and, if 
occasion be, willingly to die for them." 

Besides, a catalogue has been transmitted to us, 
which was made by Melito, Bishop of Sardis, who 
traveled into Palestine for the express purpose of 
making the list of the sacred books under the most 
favorable circumstances. Then after Melito, we have 
one by Origen — the most learned and best qualified 
for such a purpose of all the fathers. After him, we 
have catalogues by Athanasius, by Cyril, by Augus- 
tine, by Jerome, b} r Rufin, by the council of Laodicea, 
and by the council of Carthage. And when it is 
considered that all these catalogues accord with our 
Old Testament Scriptures, giving us just the books 
we have, leaving out the Apocrypha, which the Jews 
never received, and which our Saviour never sanc- 
tioned nor recognized, you will see that the argument, 
so far as the Old Testament is concerned, is conclu- 
sive. There needs no further proof concerning those 
ancient books. 



1 48 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

Deferring the consideration of the New Testament 
Canon for the next chapter, we close with one single 
practical suggestion. 

In the care with which God has transmitted these 
sacred records to us, we behold a signal evidence of 
their transcendent value. Would God have mani- 
fested all this solicitude for writings that were 
worthless ? Can we conceive it possible for the 
Infinite Jehovah to guard, by his providence, and 
cause to descend to us, a book which, after all, is 
valueless, or comparatively so ? Suppose that it be 
admitted, as most are ready to do, that the Bible is 
in some respects an admirable work ; that it is 
entertaining and instructive ; that it contains much 
valuable history, and genuine poetry, and high-toned 
morality ; yet would all this account for the wonder- 
fal fact of its preservation and transmission ? We 
think not. That which amid all the convulsions and 
the overturnings of society, and despite all the oppo- 
sition with which it has had to contend, has yet 
survived to the present day, must contain something 
more than a mere code of morals. We know that it 
is more than this. It is a depository of knowledge 
touching God, and our relations to him ; touching 
such great problems as sin, and guilt, and pardon ; 
touching problems which were never solved, and 
which never could be solved until the contents of 
this book became known. Hence the providence 
displayed in its preservation, and the solicitude of 
* the pious that it should neither be corrupted nor 
lost. 



FOR EARTH L T FIRESIDES. 1 49 

And then, in the light of this wonderful preserva- 
tion of these Old Testament Scriptures, from age to 
age, and from generation to generation, how culpable 
the conduct of those who in our day undervalue these 
ancient writings ? It is not uncommon to hear the 
Old Testament spoken of as something obsolete, effete, 
and without authority. Invidious comparisons are 
drawn between it and the New Testament. What 
madness ? Has God authorized such a distinction ? 
Did Christ, by word or deed, sanction such an 
unfavorable judgment ? Did the inspired Apostles 
entertain such an unworthy estimate of the writings 
of Moses and the Prophets, and the holy men of old, 
who wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost ? 
No ; far from it. The whole Bible is the Word of 
God. It comes to us clothed with Divine authority, 
and must be received as the message of the Most 
High to a perishing race. 

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, 
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for 
correction, for instruction in righteousness, 
that the man of god mat be perfect." 



CHAPTER IX. 



" Sad error this, to take 
The light of nature, rather than the light 
Of Revelation, for a guide. As well 
Prefer the borrowed light of earth's pale moon, 
To the effulgence of the noonday sun." Bates. 

" For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which 
speaketh in you." — Mat. x. 20. 



Having considered, in the last chapter, some of the 
reasons why we receive the thirty-nine books of the 
Old Testament Scriptures as those which were given 
of God to constitute, in part, his revealed will to 
man, we now proceed to investigate that portion of 
the Sacred Canon known as the New Testament. It 
will be obvious to every intelligent reader, that if we 
can establish, without reasonable doubt, the fact that 
writings, as ancient as the Old Testament Scriptures, 
have come down to us uncorrupted and entire, then 
there will be far less difficulty in making this clear 
in the case of the New Testament Scriptures, which 
were written at a period so much nearer our own 
times. It is a much easier task to prove the author- 
ship of a book written in the seventeenth, than in the 



1 5 2 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

seventh century ; much easier to demonstrate that 
Bishop Butler wrote the "Analogy," and that Milton 
wrote the " Paradise Lost," than to prove the author- 
ship of the " Hexapla " of Origen, or the " Universal 
History " of Eusebius. There may be no question 
as to the genuineness and authenticity of the more 
ancient writings ; the evidence in their favor may 
be ample ; and yet the number and character of 
witnesses substantiating the more recent productions 
will be such that we can, with still greater ease, place 
them upon a foundation which precludes the possi- 
bility of a doubt. 

This, as we proceed with this discussion, will be 
found to be the case with the New Testament 
Scriptures. The first of these books was written, 
according to the best chronologists, about A.D. 
40, or 41, and the last, about A.D. 97 ; so that 
the whole time which elapsed between the writing 
of the first and last of the New Testament books, 
was not more than fifty -six or fifty-eight years. In 
this respect, as will be seen, the New Testament 
stands in a striking contrast with the Old, as no less 
than eleven or twelve hundred years elapsed between 
the writing of the first and the last books given 
under that dispensation. 

The portion of the Sacred Canon which we are 
now to consider, consists of twenty-seven books, 
composed by eiglii different persons : namely, Mat- 
thew, one; Mark, one; Luke, two; John, five; 
P 'aul, fourteen ; Peter, two ; James, one; and Jude, 
one. Now, the question is, "Are these the very 



FOR EAR TIIL T FIRESIDES. 153 

books which were written by these persons under 
the Divine direction, for the use of the church in 
all ages ? Have we the evidence that these sepa- 
rate writings were given to the church, and that they 
have descended to our day uncorrupted, and substan- 
tially as they were originally written \ 

In answering this question, let it be considered, 
1. That all these separate boohs were in circulation 
among the Christian chwches tvhile the reputed writers 
still lived / and yet they never disowned them, nor 
complained of an imposture. 

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James, 
and Jude, were all men of note in the early days of 
the Christian church. All of them were with Christ, 
as his Apostles, except Mark, Luke, and Paul ; and 
these were among the most distinguished of the 
disciples, and well known to the whole church. 
Many of them were endowed with miraculous 
powers, so that they were able to attest their Divine 
commission in a manner not to be mistaken. Several 
of them actually wrought miracles, and acquired a 
distinguished place in the regards not only of the 
church, but of the world. They were known to be 
men of God. They had left all to follow Christ. 
Some of them, like Matthew, who was taken from 
the receipt of custom ; and Luke, who was a physi- 
cian ; and Paul, who was a young lawyer of great 
promise, abandoned high earthly prospects to follow 
Christ. Now, this being the character of these 
writers, is it not evident, that if the books which 
were put in circulation bearing their names, were not 



154 HE A VENL r LIGHT 

written by them, they would at once have disclaimed 
the imposture ? But this we do not find that they 
ever did. Matthew's Gospel was written long before 
his death, and became a text-book in the church, 
being read publicly upon the Sabbath, as an inspired 
book. Paul's epistles, except that to the Hebrews, 
were all published with his own name either at the 
beginning or end, and in some instances both at the 
beginning and end ; and by a positive injunction, 
which was incorporated into the epistles themselves, 
most of them were read in all the churches. By 
turning to these epistles, it will be seen that they 
are usually introduced with the words, " Paul, an 
Apostle," or " Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ," and 
not unfrequently contain his name as the writer, 
either in the body of the epistles, or at their close. 
Thus, in 1 Thessalonians ii. 18, " Wherefore we 
would have come unto you, even I, Paul, once and 
again," etc. So in Philemon, besides introducing 
the epistle with his name, he says, in the 19th verse, 
" I, Paul, have written it with mine own hand." In 
1 Thessalonians iii. 17, we have, " The salutation of 
Paul, with mine own hand, which is the token in 
every epistle ; so I write." 

Now, the point is this : It is a fact well attested, 
that these writings were generally known and read 
in the life-time of the persons whose names they bear. 
We have the very strongest evidence that these per- 
sons were good men. If these books, bearing their 
names, were not written by them, is it not incredible 
that they should have allowed the imposture to go 



FOR EARTH L Y FIRESIDES. 155 

unexposed ? That they could have connived at such a 
trick, and allowed the whole Christian world to be 
red, we can not believe, and the only rational 
inference is, that the books bearing the names of 
these persons must have been written by them, even 
as they themselves declare, under the guidance of 
the Holy Ghost. We have, then, the united assent 
of the writers themselves to the genuineness and 
authenticity of these New Testament writings which 
were circulated as theirs. The importance of this 
consideration in this discussion will be illustrated by 
citing a case similar in our own times : 

In the year 1865, there was a discussion of Chris- 
tian doctrine in the city of New York, by twelve of 
the prominent clergymen of that city,, which was 
published and circulated, with the name of each 
clergyman affixed to that portion of the book of 
which he was the author. The publication took 
place in the same city where these gentlemen lived. 
The work was extensively circulated in their imme- 
diate vicinity. The people of their own churches 
bought and read it. Year after year rolled away, 
and the book was multiplied more and more, and 
circulated far and wide. Now suppose that one 
hundred, or five hundred years hereafter, some one 
should ask, " How is it known that this work was 
indeed written by these eminent divines ?" would it 
not be a legitimate argument to say, "It was pub- 
lished as their*, under their own names, during their 
lifetime, circulated and read loith their hnowledge, 
and they never, by a word, indicated their dimpproba- 



1 5 ^ HE A VENL T LIGHT 

Hon ?" Certainly, this would be a good reason why- 
all succeeding generations should regard these writ- 
ings as really the productions of the persons whose 
names they bear. 

This, then, is our first argument for the New 
Testament Canon : These books, it is well known, 
were in circulation during the lifetime of the writers, 
and were never disowned by them,. There is no 
rational way in which this fact can be explained, 
except upon the ground that the books were written 
by the persons whose names they bear. 

II. We have the most undoubted evidence that from 
the very earliest period, after the Apostles, the New 
Testament was received by the Christian church just 
as we now have it. 

By this, we do not mean to be understood as 
saying that there were not, at times, certain persons, 
and sometimes writers of considerable note, who 
expressed doubts touching two or three of the 
books now found in the New Testament Canon ; but 
our claim is, that from the Apostles ontoard, the great 
mass of the Christian church, including the large 
majority of the learned and critical, maintained the 
genuineness and authenticity of the books which now 
form our New Testament Scriptures. If this can be 
clearly shown, then we have a proof which can not 
be reasonably questioned, for it must be confessed 
that the learned men living nearest the Apostles, had 
the best means of judging of the genuineness of the 
books claiming inspiration. Let us now see what 
those persons say. 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 1 5 7 

1. The first witness we shall introduce, is the 
distinguished Origen. This learned man was horn 
in the year 185, less than one hundred years after 
the death of the Apostle John. His father was a 
martyr to the Christian faith, while his grand-father 
and great-grandfather were both distinguished Chris- 
tians. " His great-grandfather lived within twelve 
years of the death of Mark," * and was for twenty 
years a cotemporary of the Apostle John. For more 
than one hundred years, the Origen family had lived 
the associates of the Apostles, and in constant inter- 
course with their immediate successors. Origen not 
only enjoyed the advantage of this lineal descent 
from parents so intimate with the Apostles and their 
cotemporaries, but we are informed that he labored 
with the utmost assiduity to acquire the most 
thorough acquaintance with all that affected the 
religion of Christ. He traveled extensively for this 
purpose, and visited the churches, far and near, found- 
ed by the Apostles. What better witness, then, can 
we have, than such a man. Highly learned, unusually 
observant, eminently pious, a distinguished teacher 
and writer, an indefatigable explorer after truth, 
equally illustrious as a historian and commentator, 
profound, subtile, and ingenious, where, considering 
all his advantages and attainments, could we find a 
better witness ? This distinguished father, then, 
prepared a catalogue of the New Testament, in which 
he mentions the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apos- 
tles, fourteen Epistles of Paul, two of Peter, three of 

* Dr. Seiss. 



158 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

Jo7m, and the Book of Revelation. This enumeration 
includes all the present Canon except the Epistles 
of James and Jude ; but these were omitted by acci- 
dent, not design ; for in other parts of his writings 
he acknowledges these Epistles as a part of the 
Canon. Here, then, is most clear, explicit and val- 
uable testimony. It is incredible that Origen should 
not know which were the books received by the 
churches, and acknowledged by the Apostles as of 
Divine authority. And yet he gives in his catalogue 
all but two of those now in the New Testament, and 
these he quotes from elsewhere, thus giving them his 
sanction as a part of the Sacred Canon. But, 

2. Our next witness is Eusebius, who, after Origen, 
is in some respects the most distinguished of all the 
early fathers. He lived and wrote about one hundred 
years after Origen, and had such opportunities of 
knowing whereof he affirmed, that his testimony is 
of the very highest character. He resided much at 
the court of Constantine, and enjoyed the confidence 
and esteem of that distinguished Emperor. He had 
free access to all the records of the Christian church. 
The libraries of Cesarea and Jerusalem were open to 
him ; all the archives of the state were submitted to 
his use. His learning was of the most solid kind ; 
his research the most extensive ; and he was held in 
such esteem, that he was chosen Bishop of Cesarea, 
in Syria, in the year 313, which high office he held 
until his death, which occurred twenty-five years 
afterward. He wrote a history of the church, cover- 
ing that portion of her history from the birth of 



FOR EARTHL T FIRESIDES. 1 5 9 

Christ to the year 324. Who, then, could be more 
competent than this learned man, having free access 
to all the records and the libraries of his times, and 
exalted for his learning to the very highest office in 
the church, to inform us what books were received 
by the Christian church as genuine? And what is 
his testimony ? He assures us, in his history, that 
the church in his day received the very books of the 
Neio Testament 'which we now have, and no others. 
He gives a catalogue, in which we have mentioned as 
genuine, our present Neiv Testament Canon. It is true, 
he says, that some questioned the Epistle of James, 
the Second of Peter, and the Second and Third of 
John, and that the Revelation was rejected by some ; 
but Eusebius himself, and the body of the church 
received those books as genuine. This is well nigh 
conclusive. With two such witnesses as Oeigen and 
Eusebius, we might almost regard the question 
touching the New Testament Canon as settled. 

3. We have, however, other witnesses — indeed, a 
" cloud " of them — who testify to the same effect. 
Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, who is described 
as " a man of great mind, noble heart, invincible 
courage, unaffected humility, and lofty eloquence," 
living the cotemporary of Eusebius, has left upon 
record a catalogue of the sacred books, which agrees 
in every particular with our Scriptures. 

Cyril, a learned father, residing at Jerusalem, in a 
catechetical work prepared by him, has transmitted 
a catalogue of the New Testament, agreeing in all 
respects with ours, except that he omits the Revela- 



i6o 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



tion. In this, he is imitated by others, not because 
that book xoas regarded as wanting in any proofs of 
genuineness, but because it was deemed so obscure and 
difficult of interpretation, that it ought not to be 
inserted among the books to be read by the common 
people. Whenever, then, we find the Apocalypse 
omitted from any of these catalogues, this will be 
considered the reason. 

Our next witness after Cyril, is the Council of 
Laodicea, composed of many distinguished bishops, 
assembled from all parts of the church, which met 
at Laodicea, A.D. 364, and published a catalogue of 
the New Testament, which corresponds with ours in 
all respects, except that the book of Revelation is 
omitted. The action of this Council is important, as 
showing that thus early there was found throughout 
Christendom, an all but universal agreement touching 
the Canon. 

Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, a profound scholar, 
a few years after the council of Laodicea, published 
a work on heresies, in which he gives a list of the 
Sacred Books, which in all respects agrees with our 
present Scriptures. He deemed the reasons for the 
exclusion of the Revelation insufficient. 

Gregory JVazianzen, another learned divine, and a 
poet, published about the same time a poem, in which 
he mentions all the books in our New Testament 
except the Revelation. 

Philastrius, a few years later, Bishop of Bixtria, 
Italy, gives us a list, in a work published by him, 
which agrees precisely with our Scriptures, except 



FOR EAR TIIL T FIRESIDES. 1 6 1 

that lie credits Saint Paul with but thirteen epistles. 
We know not whether this omission is accidental or 
intentional. If the latter, he probably omits the 
Epistle to the Hebrews, which some supposed not to 
have been written by Paul, as it does not hear his 
indue like his other epistles, and as some have 
thought its style to differ from Paul's. These reasons, 
however, soon came to be regarded as insufficient, 
and this epistle was admitted by all as Canonical. 

Jerome, another distinguished father, and a cotem- 
porary of the last named, translated the whole Bible 
into the Latin language, and made a catalogue of the 
sacred books, which corresponds, in all respects, with 
our Scriptures. 

Rufin, or Rufinus, a distinguished writer, and 
intimate friend of Jerome, has added his testimony 
in a catalogue, corresponding precisely to our New 
Testament Scriptures. 

Augustine, after Origen and Eusebius, is the most 
distinguished writer whose opinion is here to be 
quoted. This illustrious man, the Calvin of the 
ancient church,\\os, born A.D. 354. Being converted 
to the true faith, he employed his great talents in 
writing in favor of genuine religion, against the 
various errorists of his times. His works were 
voluminous, and it is safe to say, that no man in his 
age did more to defend the truth as it is in Jesus 
from the attacks both of avowed enemies, and pre- 
tended or mistaken friends. For his great learning, 
he was in due time chosen Bishop of Hippo, and 
fulfilled the duties of the office with distinguished 
ii 



i6z 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



ability. When, then, this illustrious man gives us 
the very list of boohs now composing our New Testa- 
ment Scriptures, as those received by the church in his 
day, we will perceive that we here have a most valu- 
able testimony. And this he does. The books 
named by this distinguished writer as composing the 
Canon of the New Testament, are the twenty-seven 
which we now have. 

The Council of Ca/rthage, held in the latter part 
of the fourth century, consisting of forty four 
bishops, distinguished for their learning, and of 
whom Augustine was one, gives us, in their cata- 
logue, a list which agrees, in all respects, with our 
New Testament. This demonstrates the unanimity 
which at that time prevailed in the Christian church 
upon this vital question. 

A writer, known in history as Dionysius the 
Areopagite — though there is reason to believe that 
this is an assumed name — who flourished about this 
time, also mentions the books of the New Testament 
in such a way, that we learn from him that the books 
as we now have them were received in his day as the 
New Testament Canon. 

And now, can there be a reasonable doubt 
concerning this matter, in view of the wonderful 
concurrence of these numerous witnesses ? Origen, 
Eusebius, Athanasius, Cyril, Epiphanius, Gregory 
Nazianzen, Philastrius, Jerome, Rufin, Augustine, 
Dionysius the Areopagite, the Council of Laodicea, 
and the Council of Carthage, with a ivonderful unan- 
imity, testify to the same point. If there is any 



FOR EARTHLY FIRESIDES. 163 

doubt touching the Hebrews, or the Revelation, or 
any other book, it is a doubt which is not at any- 
time entertained by the wliole church, or even by a 
majority in the church, but exists in the minds of a 
few, and is soon disposed of to the general satisfac- 
tion ; so that by the close of the fourth century, at 
the Council of Carthage, forty-four bishops, being a 
very fair representation of the whole church, pro- 
nounce unanimously in favor of the books as we now 
have them. The Caiftm may, at that time, be said 
to have been settled ; and from that day to this, 
Christendom has been contented. 

Here, then, our argument might safely rest ; but 
we have still another proof, greatly strengthening 
the evidence as now presented : 

III. It is a fact, that the early writers of eminence 
in the church, always quoted from these boohs as 
sacred, and that, too, notwithstanding the fact that 
they lived at tjreat distances apart, and had no direct 
conferences with each otlier. 

When we find that all the fathers of eminence 
living in Europe, Asia and Africa, quote precisely 
the same books, refer in their writings to the same 
works which now compose our New Testament 
Scriptures, and refer to them as the sacred books 
which have come down to them from the Apostles, 
how are we to construe it ? Is it reasonable to 
conclude that these men, scattered all over the 
civilized world, had conspired to impose upon their 
fellow-men in a matter of such solemnity ? No, no ; 
this is not reasonable. The only rational inference 



1 64 HE A VENL r LIGHT 

is, that they had received a common treasure ; that 
they had the common evidence that it was from God ; 
and that, prizing it highly, they failed not to quote 
largely from the sacred pages to enrich their own 
productions. 

The pertinence of this consideration may be illus- 
trated by the supposition, that a question is raised in 
our day touching the genuineness of the plays of 
Shakspeare. If some one should demand the proof 
that all the plays now bearing the name of the great 
dramatist, were really written by him, we might 
appeal with confidence to the fact that writers who 
were cotemporary with him, and who lived in the 
age immediately succeeding him, had quoted from 
these plays as genuine ; that each of his tragedies 
and comedies had thus been recognized, and that no 
other dramatic writings had been so designated. 
This certainly would be very strong proof. In the 
case of the Sacred Scriptures, 'this point acquires 
additional significance from the fact that there were 
other icritings in circulation bearing some resem- 
blance to the books admitted to the Canon ; yet the 
fathers do not quote from these spurious books as 
Canonical. There were books written on religious 
themes, somewhat in the style of Scripture, and in 
some instances bearing the name of men who stood 
high in the Church's regard ; but these were not 
received by the early Christians, nor were they 
quoted by the fathers as being given by inspiration 
of God. These works were not named in the cata- 
logues of those early days, nor were they appointed 



FOR EAR TIIL Y FIRESIDES. 1 65 

to be read in churches as having Divine authority. 
Some of tbese spurious books have come clown to us. 
We know not exactly when they were written, but 
in all probability not until after the death of all the 
Apostles ; and indeed, so palpable is the fact that 
they were not written by inspiration, that we do not 
wonder the church never received them. They 
resemble as little the inspired writings, as do the 
nursery rhymes' of Mother Goose the sublime strains 
of Milton. 

IV. Another evidence, however, of the genuineness 
of the New Testament Canon, is found in the testi- 
mony of the enemies of Christianity during the early 
ages of the Church's history. 

Certain men were permitted by God to arise, and 
by their pens to oppose the Bible and the religion 
which it contains, for the end, as it would seem, that 
the world might know that what its Mends say of 
that book is true. These infidels bear testimony to 
the very facts which we claim as the glory of Chris- 
tianity ; and in charging upon the Christians of the 
early Church the peculiarities which we know to have 
distinguished them, they quote the Scriptures which 
were received by the Church, and thus add their 
testimony to the genuineness of the Sacred Volume. 
Celsus, who lived less than one hundred years after 
the Apostles, wrote against Christianity, quoting 
from the very New Testament books which have 
come down to us. Addressing himself to Christians, 
he says : " These things, then, we have alleged to you 
out of your own writings" And in another place he 



i66 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



says : " I could say many tilings concerning the 
affairs of Jesus, and those, too, different from what is 
written by the disciples of Jesus, but I purposely omit 
them." Here, he speaks of those sacred writings as 
though they were well known and generally received 
in his day, which was undoubtedly the case. 

Porphyry, the leading infidel in the third century, 
wrote extensively against the Christian faith, and 
from the fragments of his writings which have 
descended to us, we find that he objects to many 
things contained in the Gospels. He does not claim 
that these books were not written by Matthew, Mark, 
Luke and John ; he does not deny the genuineness of 
the writings, but raises against the truths they con- 
tain, just the cavils which have been repeated in such 
a variety of forms by his imitators in more modern 
days. Now, it is apparent that if these books had 
not been received as Canonical by the whole Church 
in the third century, Porphyry would have disposed 
of them in a most summary method by exposing their 
spuriousness. But this he does not undertake. He 
admits their genuineness by attacking the truths 
which they reveal. 

But probably the most considerable opponent of 
the Christian faith in these early days was the 
Emperor Julian. He was born A.D. 331, was 
educated in the Christian faith, and at one time made 
a public profession of religion, but upon becoming 
Emperor, he renounced Christianity, re-established 
heathenism, and with his tongue, his pen, and his 
wealth, sought to destroy what he had once professed 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 1 67 

to love. The writings of this distinguished person, 
who will descend to the remotest generations bearing 
the unenviable title of " Julian the Apostate" serve 
to demonstrate that the New Testament, as we now 
have it, was received, read, and revered by the Chris- 
tian Church in his day. Julian refers to the writings 
of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, of course to 
find fault with them. He alludes to the writings 
of Paul. He also mentions the conversion of Corne- 
lius, and Sergius Paulus, and notices the letter sent 
by the Apostles to churches, convening the first 
general council ; and also speaks of Peter's vision ; 
all of which he found recorded in the Acts of the 
Apostles. He says that none but John ascribes to 
Christ the creation of the world ; that " neither Paul, 
nor Matthew, nor Luke nor Mark, has dared to call 
Jesus God ;" that " John wrote later than the other 
evangelists, and at a time when a great number of 
men in the cities of Greece and Italy were con- 
verted." We have here a distinct reference, by 
Julian, to far the larger part of the New Testament 
Scriptures. 

And let the reader consider this fact : That had 
these enemies of Christianity been able to say, 
" these boohs were not written by the persons whose 
names they bear" they surely would have adopted 
this as the most effectual means of disposing of the 
whole question. Instead of pausing to find fault 
with this or tfiat in the Gospels, or the Acts, or 
the Epistles, they would have said, " the whole is 
a base imposture. Paul did not write the Epistles ; 



i68 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



Luke did not write the Acts ; Matthew, Mark, Luke, 
and John, did not write the Gospels respectively 
ascribed to them. You Christians are deceived ; 
you are the victims of an egregious imposition." 
But this they never said. They could not. The 
proof of the genuineness of these books was so 
clear in this early clay, that they dared not deny it. 
Porphyry undertook to show, indeed, that the Book 
of Daniel, in the Old Testament, could not have been 
written by the person whose name it bears ; but he 
never alleged any thing of this nature against the 
New Testament. If, then, these early infidel writers 
dared not attack the genuineness of the New Testa- 
ment Canon, is it not too late for this attempt to be 
made, after eighteen hundred years ? If Celsus, and 
Porphyry, and Julian, saw the hopelessness of an 
assault founded upon this point* may not modern 
infidelity learn a lesson, and be guided accordingly \ 

V. There is, however, one other proof to which 
we wish to refer the reader in this connection. It is 
this : All the early copies of the New Testament 
Scriptures contain the same books which we now have, 
and they are ascribed to the same writers. 

Copies of the New Testament were made at a very 
early day. Indeed, we have grounds to believe that 
as fast as churches were formed, a demand was 
created in each for one or more versions of the Word 
of God, and steps were taken at once to supply the 
demand. These versions began to appear as early as 
the latter part of the frst century, or beginning of 
the second, and were multiplied as fast as the exigen- 



FOR EAR TIIL T FIRESIDES. 1 69 

cies of the growing Church demanded. Besides, as 
the Christian religion was not confined to one race 
— to persons speaking one language — there arose a 
necessity for copies of the Word of God in the vari- 
ous tongues then commonly spoken in the East. 
Hence, about the beginning of the second century, 
as is supposed, was prepared the Peshito, or Syriac 
version, written for the use of those Christians who 
spoke the Syriac, or Aramaean tongue. Greek copies 
were also multiplied, and ere long the whole Scrip- 
ture was translated into Latin. In all these copies 
and versions thus multiplied and scattered through- 
out Christendom, for the use of the churches, there 
is a remarkable agreement touching the books recog- 
nized as Canonical, in the names of the writers, and 
in the matter which these books contain. " By com- 
paring these versions, they will be found to embrace 
the same discourses, parables, miracles, doctrines, 
precepts, and Divine institutions. Indeed, so literal 
have been most versions of the New Testament, that 
they answer to one another, and to the original, 
almost word for word." * 

Our argument is now complete, and must, as we 
think, be regarded as conclusive by every dispas- 
sionate mind. The fact that these separate books, 

* Alexander on the Canon, page 249. If any of our readers are 
desirous of examining this subject at greater length, they are referred 
to an exceedingly satisfactory series of letters by Rev. J. A. Smith, 
D.D., entitled, •' The Sfirit in the Word" published by Church & 
Goodman, Chicago; also, works on the Canon, by Prof. Gaussen, of 
Geneva, and the late Dr. Archibald Alexander, of Princeton, N. J. ; 
the latter work published by the Presbyterian Board of Publication, 
Philadelphia. 



17° HE A VENL T LIGHT 

forming the New Testament, were published during 
the lifetime of their reputed authors, and yet were 
never disowned ; the fact that all the early writers 
of note received these books as Canonical ; that 
Origen, Eusebius, Athanasius, Cyril, Epiphanius, 
Gregory JSTazianzen, Philastrius, Jerome, Rufin, Au- 
gustine, Dionysius, the Council of Laodicea, and the 
Council of Carthage, accepted them, and made cata- 
logues of them, answering in all essential particulars 
to our Scriptures ; the fact that the early fathers 
quoted from the books we now possess, and from no 
others, though there were other books purporting to 
be written by men standing high in the regard of the 
Church ; the fact that even the enemies of Christi- 
anity, who wrote against the Scriptures, Celsus, 
Porphyry, and Julian the Apostate, quote from these 
books, and refer to them in such a way as to prove 
that they were in their day regarded as Canonical ; 
with the additional fact that all the early copies and 
versions accord substantially with our present Scrip- 
tures ; these facts, we say, form a chain of evidence 
which has never, and which we believe can never be 
broken. 

How grateful should we be to the Giver of every 
good and perfect gift, for having put it into our 
power thus to demonstrate to the satisfaction of all 
the unprejudiced, the genuineness of the boohs which 
compose our Scriptures ! Remembering how much 
depends upon this ; that uncertainty and doubt here 
would open up the flood-gates of interminable specu- 
lation, and set us adrift, like mariners upon the 



FOR EARTHL T FIRESIDES. 1 7 I 

ocean, without chart or compass ; we can but thank 
our Heavenly Father for the certainty which he 
enables us here to reach. A God of infinite goodness 
and boundless love, has not only given us his word, 
has not only handed it down from generation to gen- 
eration, amid the convulsions and revolutions which 
have marked the history of the race, but he has put 
it into our power to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, 
that this is in very truth his will, as originally given 
to the saints. 

For this, and for all thine other manifestations of 
kindness to a ruined race, 

" Being of Beings, may our praise 

Thy courts with grateful fragrance fill ; 
Still may we stand before thy face, 

Still hear and do thy sovereign will ; 
To thee may all our thoughts arise, 
Ceaseless, accepted sacrifice." 



CHAPTER X. 



" Almighty God, to thee 

Be endless honors done; 
The sacred persons three, 

The Godhead only one. 
Where reason fails, with all her powers, 
There faith prevails, and love adores." 



" Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Ghost." — Matt, xxviii. 19. 



By the three last chapters, we attained a most 
important end. We reached the conclusion that 
the Bible, as we have it, is inspired, and as such, is 
an infallible guide in all the matters of which it 
treats. Now, we have something solid upon which 
to stand. Hereafter, a quotation fairly made from 
Scripture, settles, with us, any question which may 
arise. If the Bible says thus and thus, then God 
says it; and what God says, must be true. And 
now, before we go farther, we must congratulate our 
readers upon the position we have reached. How 
satisfactory to know, that in considering the great 
themes which we are yet to discuss, we can place our 
feet upon solid ground, and know that the conclusions 



174 



HEA VENL T LIGHT 



at which we arrive are true ? In the midst of all the 
uncertainty and doubt of human speculations and 
conjectures, and surmises, how comforting to know 
that we can fall back upon the infallible teachings 
of God's Word, and say, " this is so, for the mouth 
of the Lord hath spoken it." 

The subject for discussion, in this chapter, will be 
the 

MODE OF THE DIVINE EXISTENCE. 

Having seen that God does exist, we now inquire, 
" How does he exist — in what mode or form f This 
question, as you at once perceive, brings before us 
the great doctrine of the Unity and the Trinity of 
the Godhead. 

The belief of all Evangelical Christians, founded 
upon the Word of God, as we shall see, is, that God 
exists as one God, as a unit, and yet that there are 
three persons in the Godhead — distinguished in 
Scripture as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. In 
attempting to unfold this great subject, it is proper 
that our readers should be warned that we shall find 
it a great mystery / yet we are not, on that account, 
to shrink from its investigation ; nor, because of this, 
is the doctrine to be rejected. That it would be a 
mystery to us, is just what, in the very nature of the 
case, we have reason to expect ; for God is infinite, 
and we axe finite, and the finite can not comprehend 
the infinite. When, then, men reject this or any 
other profound mystery of revelation, because they 
can not fully grasp it, they exhibit the utmost 
arrogance, and display the highest folly. 



FOR EAR TIIL T FIRESIDES. 175 

Notwithstanding, then, we have a great mystery 
before us, still, with'an humble dependence upon 
Divine grace, we can, by a careful and prayerful 
investigation, attain light by its consideration. And, 

1. Let us state just what we here believe : 

The Bible teaches that there is but one only, the 
living and true God. Yet it also teaches that in the 
unity of the Godhead there are three persons, known 
by the distinctions of Father, Son, and Holy Glwst / 
that these three are one God, the same in substance, 
equal in power and glory. 

To this doctrine, of course, the corrupt and dark- 
ened minds of men have interposed many objections. 
The most commonly alleged cavil is, that the doctrine 
is unreasonable. Some have even gone so far as to 
pronounce it impossible. We need not state here, 
that like most of the doctrines of God's Word, this 
has been perverted, and it is to the distorted and 
perverted doctrine that men have raised the above* 
named objections. If we held that God is one in the 
same sense in which he is three, then certainly would 
we be stating what would be unreasonable, what 
would indeed be impossible. But when we state, 
upon the authority of Scripture, that God is both one 
and three — that is, one in one sense and three in 
another sense — we affirm nothing either absurd or 
unreasonable. And this is our doctrine : God is one 
in his essence, his eternity, his omnipotence, omnis- 
cience, and omnipresence, his will, his affections, 
his justice, and holiness ; one in being, and one in 
thought. This is the sense in which God is a unit. 



176 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



He is one in all the attributes, qualities and aims if his 
Divine nature ; and yet there* is in him a three-fold 
distinction, of personality, of office, and of agency* 
This three-fold distinction does not hold as to any 
attribute, quality, or power of the Divine nature, but 
is personal, including varied office and operation, 
authorizing the Scriptures to speak of him, and us to 
think of him, as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. One 
in essence, one in purpose, one in attributes, one in 
will, one in thought, God is yet three in the sense of 
a t/ripersonal distinction, to each of which persons 
may be, and is, appropriately assigned a specific 
work in the great schemes of JProvidence and grace. 
"We have already said that there is a mystery here, 
but however above reason, we most emphatically deny 
that this doctrine is contrary to reason. So far from 
this, we fvnd every where throughout the universe of 
God, something wonderfully analogous to ivhat we 
are taught to believe exists in the great Author of the 
universe. It is a remarkable fact, revealed to us by 
science, that simple and uncompounded unity is not 
found among all the creations of the Divine hand. 

* "Although this tri-personal constitution of the Godhead is 
altogether beyond the capacity of reason, and is ascertained to us 
only through a supernatural revelation, there is evidently no contra- 
diction in the two-fold proposition, that God is one, and yet Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost are that one God. They are one in one sense, 
and yet three-fold in an entirely different sense. The eternal, self- 
existent, Divine essence, constituting all those Divine perfections, 
called attributes of God, is, in the same sense and degree, common to 
all the persons. In this sense they are one. But this Divine essence 
exists eternally, as Father, as Son, and as Holy Ghost, distinguished 
by personal properties. In this sense, they are three. We believe this, 
not because we understand it, but because thus God has revealed 
himself." — Hodge's Outlines, pp. 159, 160. 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 177 

God, as it would seem, with the express purpose of 
writing tlie great lesson of his own unity in trinity, 
and trinity in unity, so plainly upon nature that none 
could mistake it, has created all things both as units 
and as compounds ; as one in one sense, and tivo or 
more in another. Look for yourselves, and see the 
proof of this wherever you turn. Take the material 
world itself. What is it ? Manifestly a unit. We 
speak of it truly, justly, rightly, as the world / as one. 
So it is characterized both by the learned and 
unlearned. And yet this unity, this one world covers 
a trinity. There are just three great material king- 
doms which compose this single world — the animal, 
the vegetable, and the mineral. If one of these were 
wanting, the world would not be our world ; if they 
were all wanting, there would be no world. 

But again, descend to each one of these kingdoms 
and examine it, and the same remarkable peculiarity 
will be found. Every separate unit in each kingdom 
of nature, includes under its unity a plurality. Take 
a tree. It is one, and yet it is more than one. It is 
made up of solids, liquids, and gases. Thus, in every 
tree, plant, and shrub on earth, we have a unity in 
trinity. Take a mineral — any specimen you please 
from the mineral kingdom — and chemistry shows 
that it is not simple, but compound. A block of 
marble appears to the eye a simple, uncompounded 
substance ; but when analyzed, we find it to consist 
of a white metal called calcium, a substance known 
as carbon, and a gas called oxygen. Marble is thus 
a trinity in unity. It is one in one sense, and three 

12 



1 7 8 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

in another. Surely, there is nothing unreasonable 
here. The substance known as soapstone, in itself a 
simple body, and to the eye a unit, includes three 
radically distinct substances — magnesium, silicon, 
and oxygen. The substance known among geologists 
as feldspar, is composed of silicon, potassium, and 
oxygen ; and is thus a trinity in unity. Carbonate 
of Lime, when analyzed, is found to consist of calcium, 
carbon, and oxygen. And thus we might take you 
through the entire mineral kingdom, and we would 
every where find written in letters of light, unity in 
plwrality ; and very generally, unity in trinity. 

And the same is true in the animal kingdom. 
What is man himself but a unit in one sense, and a 
three-fold existence in another ? As you survey him 
with the eye of sense, he appears before you as a 
single object. We speak of him as a person, a man. 
But when otherwise considered, there is a trinity in 
him. He consists of body, soul, and spirit. These 
are his necessary elements, if we may so speak. They 
are essential to his existence upon the earth. In one 
sense he is one, in another three. We readily admit 
this, and in the admission, behold no contradiction ; 
nothing unreasonable or impossible. 

It may, however, be said, that God is a spirit, and 
that all the comparisons now made are with material 
things ; and we may be accused of unfairness in 
illustrating spiritual things by physical objects. 
Well, then, leaving all matter out of the account, let 
us look at a purely spiritual existence. Consider the 
mind of man, which all will admit to be a spiritual 



FOR EAR TIIL Y FIRESIDES. 179 

object, and most like Deity of any thing on earth. 
And here, in the mind itself, we find this unity in 
variety. The mind is one ; and yet it is, in its 
operations, offices, and fuuctions, more than one. 
"While the mind is a unit, it is, according to some of 
our best mental philosophers, a trinity. All its 
powers may be included in the intellect, the moral, 
sense, and the affections. Under these three heads, 
according to some, all the faculties of the mind may 
be classified. A broad, clear line, separates the 
intellect from the moral sense and the affections, and 
a line as broad and as clear separates these again 
from that, and from each other. The Scriptures do 
not make any greater distinction between the Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost, than we are compelled to make 
between these three necessary divisions of the human 
mind ; and yet, who will say that the mind is not a 
unit ? Surely no one will argue that we ascribe to 
man three minds, because we recognize these three 
necessary distinctions in his spiritual being. Why, 
then, should we be accused of holding to three Gods, 
when we contend for the three personal distinctions 
in the one Godhead. 

But more than this, even. It is always to be 
considered that the Bible represents the unity of God 
as a most perfect union of the three persons. It is 
not merely a virtual union, or a substantial union, or 
one that is so in appearance merely. It is not a 
copartnership of three persons in one great work, in 
which they appear to spectators as one / but the 
union of the three persons in the Godhead is so per- 



i8o 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 




feet that there is but one God. In looking at the 
subject in the light of its unity, we lose sight of all 
distinctions, and see but one God, one only, living 
and true. But then, when on the other hand, we are 
considering each of the persons in the Godhead in 
the light of his own personality, there is no embar- 
rassment in giving to him a perfect individuality. 
Thus, when we stand by the banks of the Jordan, 
after the Saviour's baptism, and hear the Father say 
from heaven, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I 
am well pleased," and see the Holy Ghost descending 
and resting, in the form of a dove, upon the Son, we 
are not troubled with any doubts as to the identity 
of each separate person. The mind is satisfied that 
it is the second person who stands before us incarnate ; 
that it is the First who speaks from heaven, and that 
it is the Third who descends like a dove ! And we 
know that this Father, Son, and Spirit, is, after all, 
but one God. We see the unity to be perfect when 
we consider God in his unity, and the distinct per- 
sonality perfect when we consider him in his trinity. 
Now it is a wonderful fact, that there is something 
strikingly analogous to this in the combinations of 
nature. You look at a pure white ray of light, as it 
falls through your lattice upon the carpet, and you 
are not disturbed with the appearance of any diver- 
sity. You see before you a perfect unity. There is 
one object ; one ray, white, and pure, and beautiful. 
This is one aspect of the sunbeam. Interpose now a 
prism, and there falls before you, not the one white, 
but three colored rays ; a trinity is before you now as 



FOR EAR THE T FIRESIDES. 1 8 1 

clear and distinct as was the unity a, moment "before ; 
and a trinity about which you have no more doubts 
than you had of the unity you so lately saw. You 
do not, you can not doubt the distinctions between 
those rays. The red, the yellow, and the blue, are 
no longer blended into one. As viewed now, they 
are clearly distinct. As a perfect union existed 
before, so a perfect individuality exists now. Yet it 
is the same ray in each instance. It is perfect in its 
unity, pei feet also, in its, trinity, and in all the aspects 
taken of it, it is but one ray still. Nor does the 
mind find any difficulty in considering the sunbeam 
now in one aspect, and now in another. We are not 
troubled with doubts of its trinity when we look at 
it in its unity ; nor of its unity when we see it under 
the prism. We do not hesitate fully to accept both 
states as characterizing the same thing. We can see 
how the ray of light is a unit in one sense, and a 
plurality in another ; and we discover no contradic- 
tion, no impossibility in it. 

So, too, let a chemist place upon the table before 
him a drop of the oil of lavender. He may examine 
it in every way possible ; he may subject it to the 
test of the most powerful microscopes, and he will 
find it nothing more, nothing less, than a drop of that 
peculiar oil. Looking upon it as a whole, it is a 
perfect unit. But let it be subjected to a chemical 
analysis, and a radical change at once takes place, 
which sets before the chemist the three things — 
oxj'gen, hydrogen, and carbon — the elements of 
which the oil is composed. Now, he has no more 



l82 



HE A VENL r LIGHT 



difficulty in seeing oxygen there, and hydrogen there, 
and carbon there, than he before had in seeing only 
the one drop of lavender. Is he disturbed by this ? 
Does he cry " impossible ?" No ; he says " this is 
still but the one drop of lavender viewed now in 
another aspect. That drop was but the oxygen, 
hydrogen and carbon in one form, and these are but 
the drop of lavender in another." Viewed as a unit, 
there is a perfect oneness ; viewed as a trinity, there 
is a perfect distinction ; and the mind labors not when 
taking in the idea of both the unity and the trinity 

— the unity in one sense, and the trinity in another 

— of this same single thing. 

And thus it is with the two-fold mode of the 
Divine existence. When we look at God, or are 
called to consider him in his unity, we behold that 
that unity is perfect. We have no doubts on the 
subject. Like the sunbeam, the tri-personality melts 
away, and blends into the one pure ray of an undi- 
vided Deity. Thus, when we look at God in the 
distinctions of his personality, we see the Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost, as clear, distinct, well-defined 
persons ; and yet we are troubled with no difficul- 
ties, for we know that the red, the yellow, and the 
blue rays, after all, form but one sunbeam. When 
we look at God in his unity, we know that the trinity 
is there ; and when we consider him in his trinity, 
we know that the unity is there. And in all this, 
the well-balanced mind labors not. When God says, 
" I am the Lord, and there is none else ; there is no 
God beside me," we know that we are in that place 



FOR EAR THE T FIRESIDES. 1 83 

called upon to consider the Divine Being in liis unify, 
and we are not afraid that the doctrine of the trinity 
will suffer. When we are told to go and teach all 
nations, " baptizing thein in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," we at once 
perceive that we look upon God in his trinity, and 
we are not troubled for the doctrine of his oneness. 
The sunbeam, 'whether viewed in its unity or its trinity, 
remains a sunbeam still. 

In presenting this argument, let it be distinctly- 
understood that we do not regard it as final, nor do 
we assert that this aspect of the case should deter- 
mine the faith of man in a matter of such impor- 
tance. Our object, in this discussion, is simply 
to show hoio narrow a view those take ivho reject 
this doctrine upon tlie assumption that it is unrea- 
sonable. With all nature full of analogous modes 
of being, how can any reasonable man say that the 
tri-personal existence of the one God is an absurdity ? 

Nor do we affirm that the illustrations we have 
used fully meet the requirements of the case ; for 
who will dare to say that any thing under heaven is 
a perfect counterpart of what exists in the world of 
glory ? But we do most emphatically affirm that 
these comparisons are full enough and perfect 
enough to raise the strongest possible presumption 
in favor of the doctrine we advocate. We would 
ask those who differ from us, if every thing we 
behold around us, and within us ; nay, if the universe 
itself, exists both in unity and in plurality — in unity 
in one sense, and in plurality in another — why may 



1 84 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

not tlie Creator of that universe also so exist t We 
verily believe that question can never be satisfacto- 
rily answered. 

And now, behold liow wonderful is our God ! 
Reader, have you learned to fear before him ? Have 
you been brought to reverence his name ? It is by 
a careful consideration of his majesty, dignity, and 
glory, that we are brought to bow in submission at 
his feet. 

It may perhaps be alleged that this doctrine of 
the Trinity can have no practical bearings. Nothing 
is farther from the truth than this. Men have 
actually been converted from atheism by the con- 
templation of the Christian Trinity. This was the 
case two hundred and fifty years ago at Heidelberg, 
where the distinguished Professor of Divinity, 
Francis Junius, was brought to a knowledge of the 
truth " by a sense of God rolled in upon his soul by 
means of this stupendous mystery of the Gospel." 
Having fallen into great looseness of living, and 
become an atheist in his opinions, his Christian 
father kindly puts a New Testament in his hands, 
requesting him to read it; and the result is, that, 
opening upon a passage most of all likely, as it 
would commonly be supposed, to offend and fortify 
his skepticism, he is visited, in its mysterious and 
sublime words, by such a sense of God as over- 
whelms and instantly stifles the doubts which no 
mere argument of books and treatises had been able 
to remove. He shall give the account in his own 
words : 



FOR EAR THE Y FIRESIDES. 1 8 5 

" Here, therefore, I open that New Testament, the 
gift of heaven ; at first sight, and without design, I 
light upon that most august chapter of the Evange- 
list and xVpostle, St. John : ' In the beginning was 
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word 
was God,' etc. I read part of the chapter, and am 
so affected as I read, that, on a sudden, I perceive 
the divinity of the subject, and the majesty and 
authority of the writing, far exceeding all human 
eloquence. I shuddered, was confounded, and was 
so affected that I scarce knew myself. Thou didst 
remember me, O Lord, my God, for thy great mercy, 
and didst receive a lost sheep into thy flock." 
(Bayle's Dictionary.) 

" The testimonies of Christian experience rejoicing 
in this truth, are of course more frequent. Thus the 
mild and sober Howe, explaining in what manner 
the Trinity is to be connected with Christian expe- 
rience, says, co-incidentally with what we have 
advanced concerning the relational nature of the 
fact : ' When, therefore, we are to consider God as 
related to us as our God, we must take in and bring 
together each of these notions and conceptions con- 
cerning him ; we must take in the conceptions of 
each of the persons — God the Father, God the Son, 
and God the Holy Ghost is my God.' How admira- 
able a thing is this ! How great and high thoughts 
ought we to have concerning the privileged state of 
our case ! Indeed, there is nothing that we have to 
consider of this God, or to look after the knowledge 
of, to answer the curiosity of a vain mind, but every 



i86 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



thing and any thing that may answer the necessity 
of the perishing soul. Whatever is requisite to our 
real felicity and blessedness, we may look to all that 
is in God, as determined by a special relation unto 
us." (Works, p. 1100.) 

"Jeremy Taylor, holding the truth of the Christian 
Trinity to be a truth entirely practical, apprehensi- 
ble, therefore, in its real evidence, only by experience, 
says : ' He who goes about to speak of the mystery 
of the Trinity, and does it by words and names of 
man's invention, talking of essences and existences, 
hypostasies and personalities, priorities in co-equali- 
ties, and unity in pluralities, may amuse himself, and 
build a tabernacle in his head, and talk of something 
he knows not what ; but the good man who/ee/s the 
power of the Father ; to whom the Son is become 
wisdom, sanctification, and righteousness ; and in 
whose heart the Spirit is shed abroad ; this man, 
though he understands nothing of what is unintelligi- 
ble, yet he alone truly understands the Christian 
doctrine of the Trinity.' 

" Again, the Marquis De Renty, a distinguished 
French disciple of the seventeenth century, opens 
the secret of his own living experience in his own 
words : ' I bear in me, ordinarily, an experimental 
verification and a plenitude of the most holy Trinity, 
which elevates me to a simple view of God ; and 
with that, I do all that his providence enjoins me, 
not regarding any thing for the greatness or little- 
ness of it, but only the order of God, and the glory 
it may render him.' — (Life of De Renty.) 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 1 8 7 

"The testimony of Edwards, a man whose intel- 
lectual sobriety and philosophic majesty of character 
are not to be disrespected, corresponds : ' And God 
has appeared glorious unto me, on account of the 
Trinity. It has made me have exalted thoughts of 
God, that he subsists in three persons — Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost. The sweetest joys and delights I 
have experienced, have not been those that have 
arisen from the hope of my own good estate, but in 
a direct view of the glorious things of the Gospel.' 
(Life, pp. 132, 133.) 

" The celebrated Lady Maxwell, a follower of 
Wesley, is more abundant in these revelations. She 
says : ' Yesterday he made his goodness to pass 
before me in a most remarkable manner, while 
attending public worship. I was favored with a 
clear view of the Trinity, which I never had before, 
and enjoyed fellowship with a triune God. I was in 
the spirit on the Lord's day, and felt my mind fixed, 
in deep contemplation, upon that glorious, incompre- 
hensible object — the ever-blessed Trinity. Hith- 
erto, I have been led to view the Holy Ghost chiefly 
as an agent; now I behold him, distinctly, as the 
third person of the Trinity. 1 have, in my own 
soul, an experimental proof of the truth of this doc- 
trine, but find human language perfectly insufficient 
for speaking or writing intelligibly on the subject. 
Eternity alone can unfold the sacred mystery ; but 
in the mean time, what we may and do comprehend 
of it is replete with comfort to the Christian.' (Life, 
p. 258.) 



1 88 HBA VENL T LIGHT, ETC. 

" It is impossible not to admire the Gospel formula 
that can so flood the human soul, in its narrowed and 
blinded state, with the sense of God, and raise it to 
a pitch of blessing so transcendent. The amazing 
power of the Trinity, acting thus on the human 
imagination, and the contribution thus made to 
Christian experience, can not be over-estimated." * 

Reader, has God revealed himself to you, as One 
God — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ? 

* " The Christian Trinity a Practical Truth." — Rev. Horace Bush- 
nell, D.D. 



CHAPTEK XI. 



' Yet would I lift my trembling voice, 

The Eternal Three in One to sing; 
And mingling faith, while I rejoice, 

My humble, grateful tribute bring. 
All glory to the Eternal Three — 

The sacred, undivided One; 
To Father, Son, and Spirit, be 

Co-equal praise and honors done." 



" There are three that bear record in heaven : the Father, the Word, 
and the Holy Ghost." — i John v. 7. 



The attention of the reader was called, in the last 
chapter, to the mode of the Divine existence ; and in 
stating our belief, it was shown that Evangelical 
Christians hold that there is but one God, and yet 
that this God exists in a threefold personality, recog- 
nized in Scripture as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; 
that these three are but " one God, the same in sub- 
stance, equal in power and glory." To prove that 
this belief is not absurd and unreasonable, there 
were presented, in the last chapter, many illustra- 
tions from the material and spiritual world — illus- 
trations drawn both from matter and from mind — 
demonstrating the great fact that all things exist as 



19° HE A VENL T LIGHT 

one in one sense, and as more than one in another. 
The universe, as we saw, is thus filled with modes 
of being analogous to that which characterizes the 
Creator; and the intelligent mind, in view of these 
correspondences, finds no difficulty in admitting that 
an object may be one in one mode of its existence, 
and three or more in another. 

You will remember, however, that while claiming 
for the view which was presented in the last chap- 
ter, that it effectually met the common objection of 
absurdity and unreasonableness, as brought against 
the evangelical belief, it was distinctly stated that 
we did not regard the argument, as there set forth, 
as final. Though the opponents of our faith may 
never be able effectually to answer the argument 
from the analogy of nature, still we must place this 
important doctrine upon the impregnable foundation 
of infallible truth, before we leave it. 

Our purpose, then, in this chapter, is to ask, What 
does Script ueb reveal touching the mode of the 
Divine Existence? 

And here let it be considered, that all admit that 
Scripture is clear and emphatic in declaring that 
there is but one God. Its invariable declarations 
are, " Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one 
Lord? So full of evidence is the "Word of God 
upon this point, and so well convinced are all men 
in Christian lands, concerning the unity of the 
Divine Existence, that we need not pause to 
enforce it. 

The dispute, and the only dispute, is concerning 



FOR BAR TIIL T FIRESIDES. 1 9 1 

the other point, that though one, God yet exists in a 
trinity of personal distinctions / that while then is but 
one God, there are three persons in the Godhead, dis- 
tinguished as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This is 
the point in question, and our effort now will be to 
illustrate and enforce the faith of God's children in 
this matter by an appeal to the plain and positive 
teachings of the infallible Word. And, 

1. What do the Old Testament Scriptures teach 
concerning the tripersonality of the Deity t If God 
does exist as a trinity of persons, a trinity in unity. 
we may expect to find an early reference to this 
important fact in the sacred writings. And, accord- 
ingly, upon the very first page of the sacred record, 
we find a plurality of Divine persons in the Godhead 
shadowed forth. We have it expressed in the jylural 
form of the name of God, in the fivrst verse of the 
first chapter of Genesis : " In the beginning God 
created the heavens and the earth." The word 
translated " God," is here and throughout the chap- 
ter, " Elohini" the plural, of which "HHoa/i" is the 
singular. Why should the plural form be used, if 
there is not more than one person in the Godhead ? 
And the plural form is used, too, in connection with 
the singular verb (bara), showing a very remarkable 
grammatical construction. In every language there is 
this invariable rule, that a verb must agree with its 
subject in number and person. And yet here is a 
remarkable departure from this rule. Can it be 
without any adequate reason ? 

The reader is here asked to remember the fact 



1 9 2 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

already demonstrated in chapter seventh, that " all 
Scripture," even its language, is inspired. This 
remarkable construction, then, must have a design. 
It has been alleged that the plural form of the proper 
noun is here used to set forth the dignity of this 
glorious Being, and is called the plural of eminence. 
But this does not meet the case, for if this were the 
reason, we would find the other names of God in the 
plural also, which we do not, for u Jehovah " and 
" Shaddai " are both used, and in many instances we 
have the two titles, Jehovah-Elohim, united in the 
same expression, one singular and the other plural. 
As an objection to the view that this plural noun 
expresses a plurality of persons in the Godhead, it 
has been alleged that it is used when speaking of 
angels and heathen gods. True ; but in these cases, 
the plural verb is used also, and the anomalous con- 
struction of the language does not meet us. On the 
whole, we are inclined to the belief that we have in 
this peculiarity the plurality of persons in the God- 
head decidedly, if not conclusively, set forth. 

Nor is the singular number alone employed even 
when the unity of God is expressly asserted. In that 
strong text, affirming the oneness of God, " Hear, O 
Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord," it is " Hear, 
O Israel, Jehovah, our ^Elohim] is one Jehovah." 
(Deuteronomy vi. 4.) So in other passages in which 
God is represented in other relations, the plural 
name is employed. " Let Israel rejoice in him that 
made him" (in his makers), "Thy maker is thy 
husband" (thy makers is thy husband), "Eemember 



FOR EAR THE T FIRESIDES. 193 

thy Creator " (thy Creators). These instances show- 
that there must be some design, some purpose in this 
remarkable employment of the plural form. 

Standing, however, alone, we might not regard 
this use of the plural form of the noun as conclusive 
proof of the Trinity, but we find our position greatly 
strengthened by the use, in many places, of the 
plural form of the pronoun when God is represented 
as speaking to or of himself. In Genesis i. 26, we 
read, "And God said let us make man in our image, 
after our likeness. So God created man in his own 
image ; in the image of God created he him." 
Here the plural form of the pronoun used by God 
himself clearly shadows forth the plurality of persons 
in the Godhead. Then after the fall, God says, 
" Behold, the man is become as one of us," a form 
of expression hardly to be accounted for on any 
other ground than the one for which we contend. 
Then, again, touching the building of the tower of 
Babel, God said, " Go to, let us go down and con- 
found their language, that they may not understand 
one another's speech." We have, however, in the 
6th chapter of Isaiah, a very remarkable instance of 
the use of the personal pronouns by the Almighty. 
In asking for one to go upon an important mission, 
God inquires, " Whom shall /send, and who will go 
for us ;" first employing the singular pronoun, as if 
to express his unity, his' oneness, and then the plural, 
as if to declare a plurality of persons. It would be 
difficult to show upon what principles of criticism 
these passages can be explained, without the admis- 
13 



1 94 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

sion that God is in some sense more than one. And 
the argument from this last quoted passage is very- 
strong, when we remember that the New Testament 
assures us expressly that both the Son and the Holy 
Ghost were present when God asked, " who will go 
for us." In the 12th chapter of John, and 41st 
verse, we are assured that Isaiah saw, at this very- 
time, the glory of Christ, and spake of him. And 
Paul declares that it was the Holy Ghost who spake 
a part of the words written by Isaiah in the chapter 
from which the above quotation is made. His lan- 
guage is this : " Well spake the Holy Ghost by 
Esaias the prophet, unto our Fathers, saying, go 
unto this people and say, hearing ye shall hear, and 
shall not understand ; and seeing, ye shall see, and 
not perceive. For the heart of this people is waxed 
gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their 
eyes have they closed; lest they should see with 
their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand 
with their heart, and should be converted, and I 
should heal them." — (Acts xxviii. 25, 26, 27.) 

Look, now, at this passage in the light of these 
declarations in the New Testament. Isaiah says 
that God asks the question, " Who will go for us " 
upon this mission ? John, speaking by inspiration, 
in the 12th chapter of his Gospel, says that at this 
very time Isaiah saw the glory of Christ, " and spake 
of him" And Paul declares that the Holy Ghost 
was present at the time referred to by Isaiah, and 
i uttered, as the vicegerent of the Godhead, a portion 
of the very chapter in which the words, " Who will 



FOB EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 195 

go for us ?" are found. These considerations cer- 
tainly serve to throw a strong light upon the use of 
the pronoun in its plural form. If it is God the 
Father who employs these words — if Christ and 
the Holy Ghost were both present at this august 
council — then it is easy to see why God says " us." 
Upon any other supposition, the passage is inexpli- 
cable. It will not do to say, as some have done, 
that the plural is here used to express dignity, for 
the singular is used in the same sentence. " Whom 
shall / send," etc. Nor will it answer the demands 
of the case to affirm that God couples with himself 
angelic beings, in the inquiry, " Who will go for 
us ? " — for upon angels is no where in Scripture con- 
ferred the honor of thus participating in the councils 
of the Most High. They are his servants. He uses 
them, but never advises with them. " Are they not 
all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them 
who shall be heirs of salvation ?" If, then, the plu- 
ral pronoun is here used, not to imply dignity, nor 
to signify that the angels were included in the 
Divine councils, there is but one other conclusion left 
to us — It implies plurality in the Godhead. 

In the plural form, then, of the name of God, and 
of the pronoun used by God himself, do we find our 
first argument for the Trinity in the Old Testament 
Scriptures. Attempts, of course, have been made to 
explain away this peculiar grammatical construction, 
but in vain. It would have been as easy, and cer- 
tainly as natural, for God to have employed, invaria- 
bly, the singular form — both in his distinctive titles 



19^ HE A VBNL T LIGHT 

and in the personal pronouns — as to have used the 
plural. 

And then, too, is it not strange that, when one 
great purpose of the Almighty is to impress upon 
the minds of the Jews the vital truth that there is 
but one God — when he asserts this again and again, 
and punishes those with the severest judgments who 
hold and teach the contrary — is it not strange that 
he should, from the very first verse of Genesis, 
employ terms which certainly imply- a plurality, in 
some form, in the Deity ? There was "JiJloah" the 
singular — why not use it ? There was the singular 
pronoun — why not employ it ? Why not say, 
" Let me make man in my image, after my likeness ?" 
I know of no satisfactory reply to all this, but what 
is furnished by our doctrine : that God is one in one 
sense, and more than one in another. Upon this 
hypothesis, we can readily and naturally account for 
this anomalous construction of language, and for this 
peculiar use of nouns and pronouns ; and upon no 
other. 

2. We have, however, in the Old Testament, still 
further proof of our doctrine, and, if possible, still 
more clear and convincing, even, than what we have 
now adduced. In the 45th Psalm, we have one 
Divine person represented as addressing another 
Divine person, and saying, " Thy throne, O God, is 
forever and ever ; the scepter of thy kingdom is a 
right scepter. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest 
wickedness ; therefore, God, thy God hath annointed 
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." 



FOR EAR THE Y FIRESIDES. 1 9 7 

This is a very remarkable passage. A person is 
here addressed as God. It is said that he has a 
throne and a scepter. The throne is said to be an 
everlasting throne, and the scepter a righteous one. 
Whose throne is this — whose scepter is this — but 
God's ? But then the address continues, and another 
Divine person is introduced. Because this first per- 
son mentioned wields a righteous scepter — because 
he loves righteousness and hates wickedness — 
" therefore, God, thy God hath annointed thee with 
the oil of gladness." And now, one of two things is 
certain : there are either more Gods than one — 
Avhich, of course, can not be true — or there are 
more persons than one in the Godhead. One of these 
positions, we must take. Which shall it be ? To 
confirm this position, let it be remembered that Paul, 
by inspiration, quotes this very passage, in the first 
chapter of Hebrews, and says that God the Father 
is here speaking to Christ — that the first person is 
here addressing the second person ; thus fully demon- 
strating the reality of the distinction which we make. 
When the expression is used, " Thy throne, O God, 
is forever and ever," Christ is meant, says Paul ; and 
when it is said, "Therefore, God, thy God hath 
anointed thee," it is God the Father, or first person, 
who is named. (See Heb. i.) 

But again, in the 110th Psalm, we have a passage 
of a similar character. " The Lord said unto my 
Lord, sit thou on my right hand until I make thine 
enemies thy footstool." Here, two persons have the 
same divine title applied to them ; they are both 



1 98 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

called " Lord." We might be puzzled by this, had 
we not an explanation given ns of the apparent dif- 
ficulty, by Christ himself, in the 2 2d chapter of Mat- 
thew. Jesus asked the Pharisees, on a certain occa- 
sion, " What think ye of Christ ? whose son is he ?" 
They say unto him, " The son of David." He saith 
unto them, "How, then, doth David in spirit call 
him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, sit 
thou on my right hand ? If David then call him 
Lord, how is he his son ? And no man was able 
to answer him a word," etc. Nor do we wonder at 
this, for it is only in the light of the doctrine of. the 
plurality of persons in the Godhead, that such pas- 
sages of Scripture become intelligible. 

There are many other passages of a similar char- 
acter, to which reference might here be made ; but it 
is only needful to refer to one more, before invit- 
ing you to a consideration of the proofs from the 
New Testament. This passage is found in the 48th 
chapter of Isaiah, and the 16th verse ; and is as fol- 
lows : " Come ye near unto me ; hear ye this, I have 
not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the 
time that it was, there am I ; and now the Lord God 
and his Spirit hath sent me." An examination of 
this whole chapter will show that here a Divine 
person is speaking. In the 12th verse, he says: 
" Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel, my called ; 
I am he, L am the first, L also am the last. Mine 
hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and 
my right hand hath spanned the heavens." Surely, 
this is a Divine person. No other could use such 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 1 99 

language as this of himself. And yet this person 
says, " The Lord God and his Spirit hath sent meP 
Are there, then, two or more Gods ? No, this is 
impossible. The person speaking here is evidently 
the Lord Jesus Christ — the second person in the 
Trinit} 7 . He was " sent " into the world, to redeem 
it. The Father as the first person, and the Holy 
Spirit as the third, are here represented as sending 
Christ, the second person ; and thus we have here 
the threefold personality, fully presented. 

It is proper that Ave should here add, that upon 
Unitarian or Socinian grounds, no satisfactory 
explanation of such passages as these can be given. 
To avoid the force of such texts, resort must be had 
either to wholly false and vicious principles of criti- 
cism, or to a rejection of the plenary inspiration of 
the sacred text. 

Without, however, detaining you further in the 
Old Testament, we turn to the New, where the doc- 
trine of the triune existence of the Divine Being, 
like all the other great doctrines of our holy religion, 
is fully exhibited. 

1. The first proof we here adduce, is that which is 
afforded in the account given us of the miraculous 
conception of our Lord Jesus Christ. Three distinct 
Divine agencies are mentioned in connection with 
this remarkable event. We have first one Divine 
Being sending his angel to announce the coming 
wonder. The declaration is that " the angel Gabriel 
was sent from God." 11 (Luke i. 26.) Then we have 
the Holy Ghost mentioned as the efficient agent in 



2 OO HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

this great mystery. " The power of the Highest 
shall overshadow thee." (Luke i. 35.) And in the 
third place, Jesus Christ is introduced as the object 
of it. And these three persons are all mentioned in 
such a way that a dispassionate reader would at once 
say, " these are all equally Divine" The relation of 
God the Father, of Christ, and of the Holy Ghost, 
in this wondrous work of incarnation, demonstrates 
the tripersonality of the Divine existence. 

2. But again, the same thing is clearly shown in 
the scene at the Saviour's baptism. The record is, 
that after his baptism Christ came up out of the 
water, " and lo ! the heavens were opened unto him, 
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, 
and lighting upon him, and lo ! a voice from heaven, 
saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased." Here, again, we have evidently the same 
three persons who have so often before appeared in 
the sacred record. Christ, the second person in the 
Trinity, as the object of the rite of baptism ; the 
Holy Ghost, the third person, descending like a dove 
and resting upon him ; and the Father, speaking 
from heaven and honoring the Son by a personal 
recognition. Nothing can be more convincing than 
this. How is the conclusion from such a scene to be 
avoided ? Upon what theory will the opponents of 
this doctrine explain away the obvious teaching 
here ? Will they say that it was not the Father 
whose voice was heard speaking from heaven ? that 
the Holy Ghost, who descended in the form of a dove, 
was not a Divine person ? that Christ, who was bap- 









FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 20 1 

tized, was a mere man ? To make such assertions, is 
to exhibit the fatal weakness of their cause. The 
obvious teaching here, is that for which we contend. 
The dispassionate reader of Scripture exclaims at 
once, " This is a scene in which Deity is the chief 
actor. The Godhead is here evidently exhibited in a 
Triune Existence." This has been, in every age, the 
belief of the Church, and by no device can this 
belief be changed. 

3. We have, hoiuever, still another proof in the 
language of our Saviour, as recorded in the 15th 
chapter of the Gospel by John. Christ, in this chap- 
ter, speaks of himself in such terms that we must 
infer his Divine character. He says that he is "one" 
with the Father. He declares that the man who 
"hates" him, " hates the Father also," and that the 
man who hath " seen " him " hath seen the Father 
also." After speaking thus emphatically of himself 
and the Father, and of both as Divine — as equal — 
nay, as one ; he then speaks of the Holy Ghost as a 
person, and as Divine. His language is, " When the 
Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from 
the Father, even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth 
from the Father % He shall testify of me." What 
language can more clearly set forth a three-fold per- 
sonality ? Here is the Father, and here the Son, one 
with the Father, and yet distinct, and here the Holy 
Spirit proceeding from the Father, sent by the Son, 
and as a distinct personality, testifying concerning 
the Son. Surely, this is very strong and pertinent 
language ! 



202 HEA VENL Y LIGHT 

But once more. We read in John x. 15, "As the 
Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father." 
This is the language of Christ. Now that the Father 
knew Christ perfectly, all will admit. But Christ 
claims to know the Father even as lie is known by the 
Father . This, then, is a claim to Divine knowledge ; 
in other words, a claim to Divinity. But this is not 
all. The same claim is set up for the Holy Ghost in 
1 Corinthians ii. 10, 11 : " For the Spirit searcheth 
all things ; yea, the deep things of God. For what 
man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit 
of man which is in him? Even so the things of 
God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." 
Surely, there can be no mistaking this language. 
Even as a man's own spirit knows what is in man, 
so the Holy Ghost knovjs what is in God. Is not this 
Divine knowledge ? And to possess Divine know- 
ledge, is to be Divine. Here, then, is the Trinity of 
Divine persons ; the Father perfectly knowing the 
Son, the Son having perfect knowledge of the Father, 
and the Holy Ghost possessing the same knowledge. 
How can this language be explained, except upon 
the orthodox belief? 

We have also the same truth clearly taught in the 
16th chapter of John's Gospel. Christ is about to 
leave the world and go to the Father, and the disci- 
ples are distressed at the prospect of his leaving 
them. He comforts them, however, with the words 
(v. 7-15), "It is expedient for you that I go away, 
for if I go not away the Comforter will not come 
unto you ; but if I depart, I will send him unto 



FOR EARTHL T FIRESIDES. 2 03 

you ; and when lie is come, he will reprove the 
world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Of 
sin, because they believe not on me ; of righteousness, 
because I go unto my Father, and ye see me no 
more ; of judgment, because the prince of this world 
is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, 
but ye can not bear them now. Howbeit when he, 
the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into 
all truth ; for he shall not speak of himself, but 
whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he also speak, 
and he will show you things to come. He shall 
glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall 
show it unto you. All things that the Father hath 
are mine ; therefore, said I, he shall take of mine, 
and shall show it unto you." 

Let the reader carefully study this language. Here 
are three persons presented — the Father and the 
Holy Ghost, and Christ, who is speaking of them. 
Christ claims that all things that the Father hath, are 
Ms. Is not this a claim to Divinity? "All things?" 
What, then, can the Father be which Christ is not f 
But Christ manifestly assigns to the Holy Ghost, 
also, Divine prerogatives. " He will reprove," that 
is, convince, " the woi'ld of sin, of righteousness, and 
of judgment" Who can do this, but God only? 
This work of conviction requires a power more than 
human — more than angelic. Does any one dare to 
say that a mere man, or angel, or any but a Divine 
being, can convince a soul of sin f " To lead into 
all truth" too, is asserted, in the 13th verse, to be 
another prerogative of the Holy Ghost. Who can 



204 HEA VENL Y LIGHT 

do this, but God only ? The obvious inference from 
this language, then, is, that there are three Divine 
persons — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

4. But again. In the great commission which 
Christ gives to his Disciples, we have the same doc- 
trine clearly taught. " Go," says he, " and teach all 
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Of this pas- 
sage, we have to make two remarks : If Christ were 
not Divine, and if the Holy Ghost were not Divine, 
then would it have been the grossest blasphemy to couple 
their names with' Gods, in the formula of baptism. 
But Christ could not have been guilty of blasphemy. 
He, then, and the Holy Ghost, are Divine. But if 
our doctrine of the threefold personality in the 
one Godhead be not true, then we have here three 
Gods, which can not be. God, then, is one in one 
sense, and three in another. 

5. Then, too, the same conclusion is forced upon us 
by the formula known as the apostolical benediction, 
which is given in these inspired words : " The grace 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the 
communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all." 
Are there not three persons here named ? Are they 
not named as Divine ? Are not the " grace" " love" 
and " communion" here specified, Divine gifts t 
"Who can bestow grace but God ? Whose prerogative 
is it to impart love to the soul ? Who can hold the 
communion with the soul here asked for, but a 
Divine person ? And yet, though three Divine per- 
sons are here designated, there is but one God. Do 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 2 05 

not these passages, then, fully sustain the evangelical 
churches in the position they have taken touching 
the mode of the Divine existence ? 

And thus, did we deem it necessary, we might go 
forward and demonstrate, by an appeal to the clear 
and undeniable utterances of Scripture, that the 
names and titles peculiar to Deity are ascribed alike 
to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; that the perfections 
belonging alone to God, are ascribed alike to each ; 
that each is said to be eternal, almighty, omniscient, 
omnipotent — infinite in holiness, truth and benevo- 
lence ; that the works to which Deity alone is com- 
petent — such as creation, the preservation of all 
things created, the resurrection of the body, the 
inspiration of prophets and apostles, the sanctifica- 
tion of the soul, and indwelling in the hearts of the 
regenerate — are assigned alike to each ; and, to 
crown all, we are taught in Scripture to ascribe 
Divine worship to the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost. Will the opponents of the Tri-personality 
of the Godhead, attempt to account for all this? 
There are not three Gods : there are, therefore — for 
this is the only alternative — thkee peksons in the 
One Godhead. To this conclusion, we are irresisti- 
bly driven. 

We can, however, pursue this subject no farther. 
A volume, by no means inconsiderable in size, might 
be filled with the Scripture proofs for the doctrine 
of the Trinity. Enough has now been adduced to 
convince the general reader that this doctrine is not 
one of human invention. The Scriptures surely 



2o6 



HEA VENL T LIGHT 



teach it ; and, being Divinely inspired, we are bound 
to receive it upon their authority. 

And now, reader, what is this God, thus existing 
as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to you ? Have you 
a personal interest in him ? Can you say — God the 
Father is my Father, reconciled to me through the 
merit and righteousness of God the Son ? Can you 
say — Jesus is my Saviour, his righteousness has been 
applied to me by the Holy Ghost, the third person 
in the adorable Trinity? Can you say — the love 
of God is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy 
Ghost ? he has enlightened my mind in the 
knowledge of Christ — he has commenced the work 
of sanctification in my soul — he has taken up his 
abode within me, and is abiding there, a welcome 
guest ? 

Remember, that there is great danger lest we hold 
this sublime doctrine of the Trinity as a mere 
theory — a beautiful speculation. This it should 
never be to any one. Each person in the Godhead 
has a work to do for every soul that is saved — the 
Father to justify and adopt it ; the Son to redeem 
and intercede for it ; and the Holy Ghost to apply to 
it the blood of Christ, and sanctify and seal it for 
eternal felicity. Is God the Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost, one God, doing this great work for you ? If 
not, why? Can you be saved without redemption, 
justification, or sanctification ? Can you attain to 
heaven, and to eternal felicity without the aid of this 
glorious Being ? O no ; you can not. God must 
become your God and Father ; Christ must be your 



FOR EARTHLY FIRESIDES. lO*[ 

Mediator, and Advocate ; and the Holy Ghost must 
be your Comforter and Sanctifier. Take God, then, 
Father, Son, and Spirit, as yours. Receive him in 
the arms of your faith, that he may make you his 
for time and for eternity. 

The Grace op our LORD JESUS CHRIST, 

\ The Love of GOD, 

And the Communion op the HOLY GHOST, 

Be with you all, 

AMEK 



CHAPTER XII 



" O who shall paint him ? Let the sweetest tone 
That ever trembled on the harps of heaven 
Be discord; let the chanting seraphim, 
Whose anthem is eternity, be dumb; 
For praise and wonder, adoration, all 
Melt into muteness, ere they soar to thee, 
Thou sole perfection ! Theme of countless worlds V 

Milton. 

" Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever."— Hebrews i. 8. 



"VVe call attention, in this chapter, to questions, than 
which none more important can claim the thoughts 
of man. Is Jesus of Nazareth, who was born in 
Palestine something more than eighteen hundred 
years ago, truly God ? Did he exist from all eternity 
as one of the three persons in the Godhead % Did 
he, about the four thousandth year of the world's 
history, assume a human body by being born of 
a woman ? And did he, after the acts and teachings 
ascribed to him, the sufferings and sorrows endured 
by him, finally die as to his human nature, to atone 
for the sins of a lost world ? And after three days 
continuance in the grave, did he ascend to heaven to 
plead that cause, in the presence of his Father, for 
13 



2 1 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

which he suffered and died on earth ? In short, the 
great question upon the consideration of which we 
now enter, is this : 

IS JESTJS CHEIST THE TRUE AND LIVING- GOD ? IS HE, 
INDEED, IN ALL RESPECTS EQUAL WITH THE FATHER ? 

Remember that this is a question of the very- 
highest practical consequence, for the Scriptures 
every where represent Jesus Christ as the only 
Saviour of a lost world. Now, if he be not Divine, 
then have we, after all, no sure ground of hope. In 
a concern of such magnitude, where the interests of 
the soul for eternity are involved, we can trust 
neither man nor angel. A Divine power alone is 
sufficient for these things. If God has not laid help, 
in this matter, upon one who indeed is mighty ; yea, 
even upon an Almighty arm, then it is mockery to 
talk to us of his power to save to the uttermost. You 
here consider, then, not merely a theoretical question, 
but one which to each of you has the most weighty, 
practical interest. Take heed, then, how this question 
is considered. 

Let it be remembered, too, that we accept no 
compromises in a matter of such pressing moment 
as this. We are not to be deluded with the admis- 
sion that Jesus Christ is the greatest and best of 
created beings ; that he stands higher than angel 
and archangel ; for between the highest created intel- 
ligence and God, there is yet an infinite distance. 
The might of an archangel's arm is absolute weakness 
when compared with the Divine Omnipotence. We 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 211 

therefore abate not one iota of our high claim that 
Christ is " very God of very God" of one substance 
with the Father, an uncreated, eternal, self-existence ; 
that all that can be predicated of God is his in the 
fullest, most 'perfect, and most unqualified sense. 
And all this we now proceed to prove by an appeal 
to the plain and positive teachings of the Scriptures, 
presented under five distinct heads. 

1. We prove that Jesus Christ is the true God by 
the names and titles ascribed to him in Scripture. A 
careful examination of God's Word will show a most 
amazing array of proof under this division of the 
subject. Every name, every title given to God, is 
given to Christ not only, but it would appear that 
every name by which God can be characterized, every 
title of which we can conceive by which to designate 
the true God, is applied to Jesus Christ. The infal- 
lible Word uses such language as the following, when 
speaking of him : " Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, 
Most Mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty." 
(Psalms lxv. 3.) " Thy throne, God, is for ever 
and ever ; the scepter of thy kingdom is a right 
scepter." (Ps. xlv. 6.) Isaiah, speaking by the 
spirit of prophecy, says of him : " Unto us a child 
is born ; unto us a son is given ; and the government 
shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be 
called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the 
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" (Is. ix. 6.) 
The reader is asked to ponder these words. That 
they apply to Christ, can not be doubted ; for to no 
other child born on earth, to no other " son given " 



212 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

to man, is such language in the least applicable. 
And would it not be the very height of aggravated 
blasphemy to ascribe such titles even to Christ, if be 
were not truly God ? Again, it is said, " Behold, a 
virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a 
son ; and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which, 
being interpreted, is, God with us." (Matt. i. 23.) 
Is not this very emphatic ? But again : " In the 
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with 
God, and the Word was God." (John i. 1-5.) And 
yet again : " We are in him that is true, even in 
his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and 
eternal life." (1 John v. 20.) And again, " To 
the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory and majesty, 
dominion and power, both now and ever. (Jude 25 v.) 
And still again, " Whose are the Father's, and of 
whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is 
over all, God blessed forever." (Rom. ix. 5.) Let 
this suffice, as to the titles of Christ. And now let 
the intelligent reader ask himself one question : If 
Christ be not God, how can such names and titles be 
truthfully ascribed to him ? Would it not be the 
grossest blasphemy to do it ? 

2. We prove that Christ is the true God, by the acts 
ascribed to Mm in Scripk/re. He is said to be the 
Creator of all things. " All things were made by 
him, and without him was not any thing made that 
was made." " He was in the world, and the world 
was made by him ; and the world knew him not." 
(John i. 1-10.) " By him were all things created 
that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 2 1 3 

invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or 
principalities or powers — all things wore oreated hy 

him and for him, and he is before all things, and by 
him all things consist. 11 (Col. i. 16, 17.) How full, 
how explicit, and how conclusive this language ! God 
alone can create. Man may take pre-existing mate- 
rials, and fashion them anew ; he may re-shape them, 
and produce from them objects of use and beauty — 
but to create is a divine prerogative. When, then, it 
is said of Christ that he created all things, we see at 
once that he must be Divine. He who can bring 
something out of nothing, must be the true God. 

But then, Christ is said to uphold what he has 
created. This is also the work of a Divine being. 
Paul says of him, " Who, being the brightness of 
his glory, and the express image of his person, and. 
upholding all things by the word of his power." 
Such might as this is only lodged in an almighty 
arm. Divine power alone is adequate to the mighty 
work of creation ; divine power alone is adequate to 
the mighty work of providence involved in upholding 
all things. But Jesus of Nazareth is both creator 
and providence. He must, then, be truly God. But, 
as though this were not enough, the Scriptures are 
full of evidence as to his omnipotence in working. 
He healed the sick, restored, with a word, or touch, 
or look, the lost senses of sight and speech and hear- 
ing / he cast out devils, raised the dead, and claimed 
for himself the power of raising all men from their 
graves, when the world is to be judged, in the last 
lay. Nay, more ; the Scriptures represent him as 



2 1 4 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

that judge who will at length hold that wonderful 
assize, where all men shall be required to answer 
" for the deeds done in the body, whether they be 
good or bad." 

And you will bear in mind this very important 
consideration : that all the works ascribed to Christ 
are wrought through his ovm inherent power. Not 
simply because the Father wrought through him — 
which ivas, of course, the case, as the Father and Son 
are one ; but these mighty works were performed, 
and others are to be performed, because Christ him- 
self has the inherent power to accomplish them. 
When he would heal the sick, he says : " I say unto 
thee, take up thy bed and walk." When he would 
raise the daughter of Jairus to life again, he says : 
" I say unto thee, arise." When he would restore 
Lazarus, he says : " Lazarus, come forth." And in 
regard to his own inherent power to bring men up 
from their graves, in the last day, he himself affirms 
that " as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quick- 
eneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. 
Of himself, he performs Divine acts; and must, 
therefore, be Divine. 

3. We prove that Christ is God, because Divine 
worship and honor ai^e claimed for him, ascribed to 
him, and accepted by him. 

That we are to worship God alone, is a truth 
taught not only by Scripture, but inculcated by the 
dictates of enlightened reason. Yet it is well known 
that all men are enjoined, in Scripture, to " honor 
the Son even as they honor the Father? (John v. 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 2 1 5 

23.) How could this be enjoined if Christ were 
not Divine ? Then, too, we read that at his birth 
wise men came from the east " to worship him." 
So, too, we read that a leper once came " and 
worshiped him." At another time, when Christ 
had stilled a tempest, they that were in the ship 
" came and worshiped him, saying, Of a truth thou 
art the Son of God." After his resurrection, as he 
met his disciples on a certain occasion, we read " that 
they came and held him by his feet, and worshiped 
him." And when he ascended in the sight of his 
disciples, and returned to his Father, it is said that 
they " worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem 
with great joy." 

Now all this honor and worship is given to our 
Lord Jesus Christ without being rebuked by him. He 
never once says, " this is not to be ascribed to me." 
Never once does he reprove those who render to him 
these Divine honors. Never does the Bible declare 
that men do wrong in thus worshiping him. Now, 
how could all this be, if Christ were not Divine ? 
Let the reader turn to the 20th chapter of Exodus, 
and contemplate the first two commands of the 
Decalogue, embodied in those solemn words, " Thou 
shalt have no other Gods before me. Thou shalt not 
make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of 
any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the 
earth beneath, or that is in the water under the 
earth ; thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor 
serve them, for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, 
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children 



2l6 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



unto the third and fourth generation of them that 
hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them 
that love me and keep my commandments." Then 
let him recall the fact that there is no sin more 
abhorrent to God than that of idolatry ; that there 
is no form in which the violation of his law has been 
more terribly punished than in this — the whole 
Jewish nation being sent into captivity for seventy 
years in consequence of it — and then let him ask 
himself if Christ, who ever exhibited such solicitude 
for the integrity of the Divine law, could have con- 
sented to see it violated in its most sacred and 
solemn precepts, without the most prompt and 
positive cohdemuation ? If he were not God, the 
worship paid to him while upon earth would have 
been the grossest insult offered to the majesty of 
heaven, the most aggravated contempt of that law, 
which Christ ever regarded with the utmost rever- 
ence and love. 

Some have sought to evade the force of this 
argument, by claiming that the worship ascribed to 
Christ in Scripture, is only such as may with propri- 
ety be awarded to any person of great dignity and 
worth ; that it is not the worship due a Divine 
Being. The utter fallacy of this position will appear 
when it is remembered that John, in the visions of 
Patmos, saw the hosts of heaven in the very act of 
ascribing the same honor and worship to the Father 
and the Son. The record is, "And I beheld, and 
I heard the voice of many angels round about the 
throne, and the beasts, and the elders ; and the 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 2 1 7 

number of them was ten thousand times ten thou- 
sand, and thousands of thousands, saying, with a 
loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to 
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, 
and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every 
creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and 
under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and 
all that are in them, heard I saying, blessing, and 
honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that 

SITTETH UPON THE THRONE, AND UNTO THE LAMB FOR 

ever and ever." (Rev. v. 11, 12, 13.) What can 
be more conclusive than this ? Here is the Father, 
the first person in the Trinity, introduced as " him 
that sitteth upon the throne" and the Lamb is Christ, 
the second person ; and to each is ascribed the same 
lwnor, glory, and poiver" United with the Father 
in receiving the worship of heaven, can Jesus be less 
than Divine ? But, 

4. We prove Christ s Divinity by the relations he 
sustains to all created beings. The Scriptures speak 
of him as the '•'•King of kings, and the Lord of 
lords;" as the u head over all things," and as the 
" Prince of the kings of the earth." No language 
can more clearly designate the Moral Governor 
of the Universe. The u head over all things' 1 '' 
implies Divine powers and prerogatives. The 
" all tilings" here are not alone the little affairs 
of a town or city, the concerns of a province or a 
kingdom, but the affairs of the whole world, through- 
out all tinie ; and of this world not only, but the 
affairs of the lohole boundless universe of God. Think 



2l8 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



of it ! Creator and Upholder of all, as we nave 
already seen, here is one who is "head over all 
things." Can such a being be less than Divine ? 
Can the " head over all things " himself have a 
head % Can he be created t No ; difficult as it may 
be to conceive of Christ as both human and Divine, 
yet he must be God, or he could not sustain these 
exalted relations to the universe. But, 

5. Christ is seen to be the true God, because all 
the Divine attributes are ascribed to him. 

The attributes of God, as set forth in Scripture, 
are : Infinity, Eternity, Unchangeableness, Knowledge, 
Wisdom, Power, Holiness, Justice, Goodness and 
Truth. Of these, the first three, viz. : Infinity, Eter- 
nity and Unchangeableness, are called by some incom- 
municable attributes, because they belong to God 
only. The last named are called the communicable, 
because they are shared by angels and men, but in a 
limited degree. Now, if Christ possesses the three 
attributes which belong, according to Scripture, to 
God only, and if, like God, he possesses the other 
seven attributes in an infinite degree, then is he most 
clearly proven to be very God. 

Let us see, then, what Scripture teaches upon this 
important point. Let us consider the communicable 
attributes, first of all. Has Christ hnoivledge, and 
in an infinite degree ? Listen to such language as 
this, addressed by Peter to Christ, without rebuke : 
" Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that 
I love thee." So, too, this other language : " Jesus 
did not commit himself unto them, for he knew all 



FOR EARTHL T FIRESIDES. 2 1 9 

mm, and needed not that any should testify of man, 
for he knew %ohat toas in man" The manifest mean- 
ing of this is, that he had a perfect knowledge of all 
the thoughts of all souls. So that Jesus himself tes- 
tifies, " All the churches shall know that 1 am he 
who searchest the reins and the hearts," Is not such 
knowledge infinite? 

So, too, his is Divine ivisdom. Christ is undoubt- 
edly speaking, in the 8th chapter of Proverbs, 
when we read, " I, wisdom, dwell with prudence." 
"Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching 
daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my 
doors; for whoso findeth me, findeth life." This 
is he of whom Paul exclaimed, in 1 Cor. i. 23, 24 : 
"But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a 
stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 
but unto them which are called, both Jews and 
Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom 
of God." 

Then, too, he is possessed of omnipotence. This 
is implied in his being the Creator and upholder 
of all things, in heaven and on earth. And if you 
wish other proof, behold it in the declaration of 
Christ himself: " I am he, who is, and who was, and 
who is to come — the Almighty." Isaiah, too, calls 
him the " Mighty God." 

Then, too, he is possessed of infinite holiness. 
The Scriptures say of him that he was holy, harm- 
less, undefiled, and separate from sinners." Read 
the record of his life — trace his every step — mark 
his every word — scrutinize, as closely as you may, 



2 2 O HE A VENL T LIGHT 

every thought, purpose, motive, or desire, of his 
whole existeuce ou earth — and not the slightest 
deviation is observable, from the strictest holiness. 

And thus we might consider the attributes of jus- 
tice, goodness, and truth, and we could prove that he 
possesses them, as they lie in the bosom of God — 
in an infinite degree. In Christ, all these attributes 
are perfect. This can be affirmed neither of men 
nor angels. 

But what of the incommunicable attributes of God? 
Do these, too, belong to Jesus of Nazareth ? Then 
is he " very God of very God." 

Is Christ infinite? Certainly; otherwise, how 
could he create all things, and how uphold all things 
created ? Think of the infinite variety in nature — 
the infinite extent of the physical universe — worlds 
upon worlds, rolling out and out into illimitable 
space. Behold, all these are created and upheld by 
Jesus of Nazareth. Is he not, then, infinite in his 
perfections ? — and as infinite, is he not God? 

Then, too, is Christ eternal ? Certainly ; other- 
wise, there would be no force in these words of the 
Saviour, as applied to himself : " I am Alpha and 
Omega, ike first and the last" What is it to be the 
first ? and what to be the last ? Then, if he is 
not eternal, what means this language : " And thou, 
Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among 
the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he 
come forth unto me, who is to be ruler in Israel, 
whose goings forth have been of old, from everlast- 



FOR EAR THE T FIRESIDES. 221 

ing." What is it to be from everlasting ? Is it not 
to be eternal ? 

But then, is Christ immutable, too t Certainly ; 
else, how would we interpret the words, " Jesus 
Christ, the same, yesterday, to-day, and forever?" 
If he is not immutable, then it would be most blas- 
phemous to apply to him the words used of him by 
Paul, in Hebrews : " Thou, Lord, hast laid the foun- 
dations of the earth, and the heavens are the works 
of thy hands ; they shall perish, but thou remainest ; 
they all shall wax old, as doth a garment, and as a 
vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be 
changed ; but thou art the same, and thy years shall 
not fail" What can be more full, more explicit, 
than this? 

This last argument, drawn from the Divine 
perfections, we regard as conclusive against all 
objections. If it should be conceded that Christ 
is possessed of all the Divine attributes, but that he 
possesses them only as the gift of God, and not in 
his own right, we ask, how is it possible, for God 
even, to impart vifinite perfections to & finite nature ? 
If Christ is not in and of himself God, he can not 
receive as a gift, an infinite attribute, nor possess a 
communicable attribute in an infinite degree. 

We freely concede that a created, and of course 
finite, being may have bestowed upon him the gift 
of wondrous graces by the God who made him. But 
there is a limit to the bestowment of these gifts. 
Even if God were willing to bestow upon such a per- 
son his own incomprehensible powers, with reverence 



222 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

be it said, he could not do it. The limited capacity 
of the recipient would render the attempt abortive. 
Every creature must be inferior to the Creator ; and 
if inferior, of course incapable of receiving his inex- 
haustible fullness. But Christ, as we have seen, 
possesses in full every perfection of Deity. " In him 
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. The 
conclusion, then, and the only conclusion to which we 
can come, from all this, is that 

JESUS CHEIST IS GOD. 

And now the argument is, complete, and may be 
summed up in a word. If the Scriptures may, in 
truth, ascribe to Christ all Divine names and titles, 
all Divine acts and prerogatives, all Divine honor 
and worship, all Divine relationships and dignities, 
all Divine qualities and attributes, even to the three, 
infinity, eternity, and unchangeableness, which belong 
to God only, then is Jesus Christ the true God ! 
How can this conclusion be evaded ? How can we 
hold otherwise, and yet admit the inspiration of the 
Word of God ? 

We may bring this chapter to a close by reference 
to the remarkable fact that Christ makes the most 
astonishing claims, without in the least shocking our 
minds, or exciting within us a feeling of disgust at 
his pretensions. Says an ingenious writer, when 
speaking upon this point : " Imagine a human nature 
saying to the world, ' I came from the Father,' ' Ye 
are from beneath, I am from above ;' facing all the 
intelligence and even the philosophy of the world, 
and saying, in bold assurance, 'Behold, a greater 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 223 

than Solomon is here,' ' I am the light of the world, 
the way, the truth and the life ;' publishing to all 
people and religions, ' No man cometh to the Father 
but by me ;' promising openly in his death, ' I will 
draw all men unto me ;' addressing the Infinite 
Majesty, and testifying, ' I have glorified thee on 
the earth ;' calling to the human race, ' Come unto 
me,' ' Follow me ;' laying his hand upon all the dear- 
est and most intimate affections of life, and demand- 
ing a precedent love — ' He that loveth father or 
mother more than me, is not worthy of me.' Was 
there ever a man that dared put himself on the world 
in such pretensions ? — as if all light was in him ! 
as if to follow him and be worthy of him was to be 
the conclusive or chief excellence of mankind ! But 
no one is offended with Jesus on this account ; and, 
what is a sure test of his success, it is remarkable 
that, of all the readers of the Gospel, it probably 
never occurs to one in a hundred thousand, to blame 
his conceit or the egregious vanity of his pretensions. 
" Nor is there any thing disputable in these pre- 
tensions — least of all, any trace of myth or fabu- 
ulous tradition. They enter into the very web of 
his ministry, so that, if they are extracted, and 
nothing left transcending mere humanity, nothing at 
all is left. Indeed, there is a tacit assumption con- 
tinually maintained, that far exceeds the range of 
these formal pretensions. He says, 'I and the 
Father that sent me.' What figure would a man 
present in such language — ' I and the Father ?' He 
goes even beyond this ; and — apparently without 



224 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

any thought of excess or presumption, classing him- 
self with the Infinite Majesty in a common plural — 
he says, ' We will come unto him, and make our 
abode with him.' Imagine any, the greatest and 
holiest of mankind — any prophet or apostle — say- 
ing we of himself and the Great Jehovah ! What 
a conception did he give us concerning himself, when 
he assumed the necessity of such information as this : 
' My Father is greater than I ;' and, above all, when 
he calls himself, as he often does, in a tone of conde- 
scension, f the Son of Man.' See .him, also, on the 
top of Olivet, looking down on the guilty city, and 
weeping words of compassion like these — imagine 
some man weeping over London or New York in the 
like — ' How often would I have gathered thy chil- 
dren together, as a hen doth gather her chickens 
under her wings, and ye would not !' See him, also, 
in the Supper, instituting a rite of remembrance for 
himself — a scorned, outcast man — and saying, 
' This is my body — this do in remembrance of me.' 
" Come, now, all ye that tell us, in your wisdom, 
of the mere natural humanity of Jesus, and help us 
to find how it is that he is only a natural develop- 
ment of the human ; select your wisest and best 
character; take the range, if you will, of all the 
great philosophers and saints, and choose out one 
that is most competent ; or if, perchance, some one 
of you may imagine that he is himself upon a level 
with Jesus (as we hear that some of you do,) let 
him come forward in this trial, and say, ' Follow me,' 
' Be worthy of me,' ' I am the light of the world,' 






FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 22$ 

1 Ye are from beneath, I am from above,' ' Behold, 
a greater than Solomon is here ;' — take on all these 
transcendent assumptions, and see how soon your 
glory will be sifted out of you by the detective gaze, 
and darkened by the contempt of mankind ! Why 
not ? Is not the challenge fair ? Do you not tell us 
that you can say as Divine things as he ? Is it not 
in you, too, of course, to do what is human ? Are 
you not in the front rank of human developments ? 
Do you not rejoice in the power to rectify many mis- 
takes and errors in the words of Jesus ? Give us, 
then, this one experiment, and see if it does not 
prove to you a truth that is of some consequence ; 
viz. : that you are a man, and that Jesus Christ is — 
more !" * 

" More I" Yes, reader, he is more. He is nothing 
less than Divine ; and, as such, fully able to save 
your soul from sin and death. Do you know, in 
your own sweet experience, that he hatli "jpowei* on 
earth to forgive sins ?" Stop not short of that 
knowledge. Pray for the discovery, if you have not 
yet made it, which was made by Thomas, when he 
cried, "My Loed and My God!" 

"Where is refuge — where ? 

In Thee, Lord Christ, alone ! 
For thou hast shed thy precious blood; 
All our sins thou makest good — 

Holy Lord and God ! 

Strong and holy God ! 
Merciful and holy Saviour! 

Eternal God ! 
Let us never fall 
From the true faith's hope for all ! 

Kyrie Eleison !" 

15 * " Natural and Supernatural." — Bushnell. 



OHAPTEK XIII. 



"Like as a man, He trode on earthly soil; 
He bore each pang, and strove in weary toil ; 
He spake in human words, with pity sighed ; 
Like us, He mourned, and feared, and wept, and died. 
Yet all thy fulness, Father, dwelt in him, 
In whom no shadow made the glory dim. 
Such strength, O God, from him to us derive, 
And make, by life from him, our death alive." — Sterling. 

'A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." — Isaiah liii. 3. 



It was demonstrated, in the last chapter, that 
Christ is truly God. We there saw that the Bible 
ascribes to him all divine names and titles, all divine 
acts and prerogatives, all divine honors and worship, 
all divine relationships and dignities, and all divine 
qualities and attributes. He, then, to whom all these 
can be rightfully ascribed, is, and must of necessity- 
be, " vert God of very God," — the true and ever- 
living Jehovah. 

Now, to all this, of course, there have been raised 
numerous objections. Socinians and Unitarians have 
resorted to all manner of devices to evade the force 
of these Scriptural ascriptions, and to make it appear, 
notwithstanding all this, that Jesus can not be God. 



228 



HEA VENL T LIGHT 



It is not proposed, in these pages, to follow these 
errorists into all the by-ways of their sophistry and 
false logic, nor to undertake to answer all their fool- 
ish, and in many instances puerile, objections. There 
is, however, one question which has been asked by 
those who do not adopt the doctrine of Christ's 
proper divinity, which, as it is founded upon an 
apparent contradiction of the Word of God, may be 
noticed with propriety in this chapter. It has been 
said, and said truly, that the Scriptures, in many 
places, speak of Christ as inferior to the Father ; 
and the honest question with many is, " How can 
this be consistent with the doctrine that Christ is an 
equal with the Father? How can the Scriptures 
speak of Christ as both equal with God, and as infe- 
rior to him \ Admitting that this inquiry is legiti- 
mate — that there is here a question which should 
be answered — we enter now upon its discussion. 
And, 

1. Let us notice some of the passages of the Word 
of God, to which reference is here made. 

One is found in Isaiah xlii. 6 : "I, the Lord, have 
called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, 
and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of 
the people, for a light of the Gentiles." It is readily 
admitted, that the reference here is to Christ, and 
that he is regarded in some sense inferior to the 
Father. God is said to have "called" him; he 
promises to "hold" him, and "keep" him, and 
"give" him; all of which are expressions denoting 
superiority on the part of the Father, and dependence 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 229 

and subjection on the part of the Son. Again, in 
the 1st verse of the 110th Psalm, " The Lord said 
unto my Lord, Sit thou at m) T right hand, until I 
make thy foes thy footstool." Here, God the Father 
commanded the Son to sit at his right hand, and 
promises to do for Christ something which, at first 
sight, we might suppose he had not the power to do 
for himself — that is, to subdue his foes ; implying, 
apparently, that Christ's power is inferior to the 
Father's. Then, in the 2d Psalm : ' The Lord hath 
said unto me, Thou art my Son \ this day have I 
begotten thee." And in the 89th Psalm : " I will 
make him my first-born, higher than the kings of 
the earth ;" — all expressions implying the control 
of a Father, and the submission of a Son. And 
then, similar expressions are very numerous in the 
New Testament : " The living Father hath sent me, 
and I live by the Father." (John vi. 57.) " He that 
sent me is with me ; the Father hath not left me 
alone, for I do always those things that please 
him." (John viii. 29.) " The words that I speak 
unto you, I speak not of myself, but the Father, that 
dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." (John xiv. 10.) 
" He was crucified through weakness." (2 Cor. xiii. 
4.) " We see Jesus, who was made a little lower 
than the angels." (Heb. ii. 9.) Then, likewise, we 
have those two very remarkable expressions — the 
first declaring that the Son is inferior to the Father 
in knowledge : " Of that daj 7 and that hour know- 
eth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, 
neither the Son, but the Father ;" and the second, in 



23° HBA VENL Y LIGHT 

which our Saviour expressly declares that the Father 
is greater than he. In John xiv. 28, he says : " I go 
unto the Father, for my Father is greater than I." 
And these quotations might be greatly multiplied. 
We could point to the fact that Christ prayed to the 
Father, again and again, just like any inferior crea- 
ture ; that he asked him to do things for him, as 
though he had no authority, no ability, to do them 
for himself; and when he hung upon the cross, he 
cried, in apparent helplessness, weakness and despair, 
" My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" 

Now, we do not wonder that men have asked, 
" How can these texts be reconciled with the doc- 
trine of Christ's absolute equality with the Father ? 
If he were the true God, could any inferiority be 
predicated of him ?" We do not wonder that such 
questions have arisen, nor do we blame persons for 
asking them. We only complain that those who 
have been puzzled by the apparent difficulty here, 
have not pursued the proper course to secure a 
removal of their doubts. It will not do to say, as 
many have done, " Here are passages of Scripture 
which seem to contradict Christ's proper divinity; 
therefore he can not be the true God." No ; they 
should have said, " Is there not some sense in which 
these declarations and expressions are to be ration- 
ally interpreted, in entire consistency with those 
other portions which teach Christ's divinity ?" In 
reading the Scriptures, we will often find passages 
which appear to be in conflict. For instance, Solo- 
mon says, in one place, " Answer not a fool accord- 



FOR EAR THE Y FIRESIDES. 2 3 1 

ing to his folly ;" and in the very next verse, says, 
"Answer a fool according to his folly." Now, no 
sane man would assert that Solomon here contradicts 
himself. There is a sense in which we are not to 
answer a fool according to his folly — lest we place 
ourselves on an equality with him, and become like 
him. There is also a sense in which we are to 
answer a fool according to his folly — for words of 
true wisdom would be thrown away upon such. 
When, too, Paul says, We are justified by faith 
only, and James says, We see, then, that a man 
is justified, not by faith only, but by works also, 
we do not hastily conclude that there is an irrecon- 
cilable antagonism between these two inspired pen- 
men. We investigate the matter, and find that they 
may be made to harmonize perfectly. They may 
speak of different hinds of faith, or of different kinds 
of justification. Paul may speak of genuine faith — 
James of that which is spurious. Or, Paul may 
speak of justification before God, who knows the 
heart — and James of a justification before men, who 
can judge of the sincerity of the heart only by the 
acts of the outward life. With this view of the 
case, we perceive that there is no contradiction 
between James and Paul. In the way in which they 
are viewing faith at the time, or in the sense in 
which they use the word justification, they both 
utter the truth, and are seen to be in entire accord, 
notwithstanding their apparent antagonism. 

Now, when, as we discovered in the last chapter, 
the Scriptures speak of Christ as the tkue God — 



232 HEA VENL T LIGHT 

and when we see as in the quotations just now made, 
they speak of him as subject to and dependent upon 
the Father — we do not conclude rashly, with the 
Unitarian and Socinian, that there is here an irrecon- 
cilable antagonism, and that Christ can not be God ; 
but our conclusion is that there is some way in which 
these apparent contradictions are reasonably accounte d 
for. 

To remove, therefore, all difficulties upon this sub- 
ject, let it be considered that Christ is represented 
ia Scripture — 

1. As having taken into union with his Divine, a 
perfect human natwe, a soul and a body precisely like 
that of man, having all maris wants and weaknesses ; 
in short, a nature like maris, in every respect, loith the 
exception that it is sinless. Now, a large number 
of the passages of Scripture which imply inferiority 
in Christ to God the Father, relate exclusively to his 
human nature, which was created, and, of course, 
inferior and dependent. Thus, if it is asked — How 
could Christ, if the true God, experience such agony 
in the Garden of Gethseinane ? — we give the per- 
fectly satisfactory reply, by saying that it was his 
human nature which then suffered. If it is asked — 
How could a God weep as Christ wept at the grave 
of Lazarus, or be weary as he was on his journey 
through Palestine, or be hungry, or thirsty, or suffer 
pain, or be compelled to cry upon the cross, " My 
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" — we 
reply that we see here, not the sufferings of the 
Divine nature, but of the human / these are not the 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 233 

agonies of a God, but of the man Christ Jesus. And 
to every dispassionate mind, this view of the subject 
will account satisfactorily for a very large number 
of passages in the Word of God, which might other- 
wise present insurmountable difficulties. If Christ 
is ever said to be ignorant of any thing — if he is 
ever said to know less than the Father, as in the 
instance already quoted, touching the coming of a 
future event — if he is ever said to want power to 
do any thing of himself, wherein any inferiority to 
the Father may be implied — you may be assured 
that it is all said of the human nature, the inferior 
and created nature, which Christ assumed for the 
purpose of making atonement for a lost and ruined 
race. As God, he is in all respects, and always rep- 
resented as, equal with the Father. As man, he has 
all the infirmities of humanity ; and tlwse portions 
of the Scriptures which relate to his human nature, 
must of necessity speak of him in terms differing 
from those which detail the glories of his Deity. Is 
there any thing incomprehensible in this ? Is it not 
clear, to every dispassionate mind, that all those pas- 
sages of Scripture which speak of Christ's humanity 
must speak of him as inferior to the Father — as 
subordinate? When, then, we meet with a text 
which implies the inferiority of his human nature, 
what madness to infer from it that Christ is not 
Divine ! But, more than this, we remark — 

2. That the Scriptures represent Christ as acting 
in certain official relations to the Godhead, in which 



234 HEA VENL T LIGHT 

he is, for the time being, r eg curded as subject to the 
Father, and under his direction. 

Take that passage in which God the Father says 
of Christ, " I have set my king upon my holy hill 
of Zion," and all those passages in which Christ is 
represented as being sent into the world by the 
Father, to do his work, to accomplish his purposes, 
and fulfill his commands. In all these, Christ is rep- 
resented as acting in an official relation. This idea 
is prominent in that wonderful prayer of our Saviour, 
recorded in the 17th chapter of John's Gospel, where 
he says, among other things, addressing the Father : 
" I have glorified thee on the earth ; I have finished 
the work which thou gavest me to do / and now, O 
Father, glorify thou me, with thine own self, with 
the glory which I had with thee before the world 
was." " I have manifested thy name unto the men 
which thou gavest me out of the world ; thine they 
were, and thou gavest them me." And scores of 
passages might be quoted, like these, showing two 
things : 1st, That Christ is recognized as sustaining 
a relation which brings him under the dwection and 
authority of the Father; and, 2d, That this relation 
is official, and does not affect his Supreme Deity. 

To make this matter plain, let us employ the fol- 
lowing illustration: Two persons may be upon an 
absolute equality in all the essentials of their being; 
they may be equal in knowledge, learning, skill, and 
genius — equal in age, in social position and wealth ; 
yet one of them may consent, for a time and for a 
purpose, to take an official position, which will bring 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 235 

him temporarily mider the direction of the other. 
Of this, you can easily conceive. Thus, in every 
thing which relates to character, and attributes, and 
position in society, there is equality, absolute and 
perfect; but as respects office, and certain self-assumed 
/mictions, there is a temporary subjection. Take, 
for further illustration, the Secretary of State and 
the President of the United States. As persons, 
there may be here absolute equality ; but for the 
purposes of government, the Secretary becomes, for 
the time, subject to the Executive direction. No one 
for a moment infers any inferiority in character and 
attributes, because the Secretary is officially under 
the control of the President, for a time. So in the 
Godhead. Christ as Divine, and as to all the essen- 
tials of the Deity, is the equal of the Father — is 
indeed one with him ; but, for the great purposes of 
Redemption, he has assumed, for a time, an official 
relation to the Godhead, which subjects him to the 
Father's control. 

But, you are ready to inquire, does the Bible 
clearly reveal this fact ? Is it distinctly stated that 
Christ has assumed this official relation, in which he 
is subject to the Father, fully authorizing us so to 
speak of him? We answer, yes. Daniel, in the 
wonderful visions granted to him, makes this record : 
" I saw in the night, visions ; and behold, one like 
the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and 
came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him 
near before him. And there was given him domin- 
ion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, and 



236 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



nations, and languages, should serve him." (Dan. 
vii. 13, 14.) There is no mistaking the import 
of this vision. The "Ancient of Days" is God 
the Father ; the one like the Son of Man, is 
Christ; and the giving to Mm of a kingdom and 
dominion, is his appointment to the official posi- 
tion of head over his mediatorial kingdom on earth. 
Hence, Christ himself says: "All things are deliv- 
ered unto me of my Father ;" and " the Father 
loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his 
hands." It is in this sense, too, that he speaks of 
his kingdom, saying, " My kingdom is not of this 
world ;" and it was on this ground that he allowed 
Pilate to call him " King of the Jews," and write 
the superscription which was placed above him 
upon the cross, " This is the King of the Jews." It 
is clear, then, that all these passages and expressions 
point to an official relation sustained by Jesus to the 
Godhead, which is to be temporary. When the 
present state of things has ended — when God has 
wrought out his full purposes of love and mercy 
towards a ruined race — when Christ shall see of the 
travail of his soul, and be satisfied — when the ruin 
wrought in Paradise has been rectified in the appli- 
cation of the great remedy brought to earth and 
manifested in Palestine — when the stains, the guilt, 
the curse, of Eden, have been purged away in that 
fountain opened in Gethsemane and filled to over- 
flowing upon Calvary — then will Christ's official 
and subordinate relations to the Godhead cease. 
His mediatorial kingship will end, and he will be in 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 237 

nothing, and no longer, inferior to the Father. All 
this is beautifully and concisely expressed by the 
Apostle Paul, when speaking of the resurrection and 
general judgment : " Then cometh the end, when he 
shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even 
the Father ; when he shall have put down all rule, 
and all authority and power." Christ's official rela- 
tions to the Godhead ceasing with the fulfillment of 
his great mediatorial work, he delivers up the king- 
dom to the Father, and is no longer officially subor- 
dinate. 

It is, then, a fact, that Christ had a human body 
and a human soul, created, and, of course, dependent. 
It is also a fact that, as Mediator, he sustains an 
official relation to the Godhead, which, for the time, 
renders him, in all the matters pertaining to his 
office, subject to the Father. Yet it is clear that 
neither of these things in the least affects his essen- 
tial Deity, or for one moment dims our perception 
of his true Divinity. Nay, it is only by a full recog- 
nition and admission of all these things, that we can 
interpret Scripture. How else could we read intel- 
ligently that wondrous declaration of Isaiah, " Unto 
us a child is born, unto us a son is given ; and the 
government shall be upon his shoulder ; and his 
name shall be called "Wonderful, Counsellor, the 
Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of 
Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, 
there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and 
upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it 
with judgment and with justice, from henceforth, 



2 3 8 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



even forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will 
perform this." There is certainly both a human and 
a Divine nature implied here. The " child born 
and the Son given," surely indicate the human; the 
"Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting 
Father, Prince of Peace," can designate only a Divine 
being. How will Socinians explain this language % 
To whom, of all the beings who ever appeared on 
earth, can this language apply, if not to Christ ? 
"Who else, of all who have ever lived, can be said to 
be at once a " child born," and the " Mighty God 

AND EVERLASTING FATHER ?" 

Then again, it is only upon the admission of the 
doctrine for which we here contend, that we can 
explain those many passages of Scripture which 
speak of Christ as having an existence 'prior to his 
appearance in the world. These have always proved 
difficult portions of Scripture to Unitarians. Thus, 
in Hebrews, 10th chapter, Paul, in arguing the great 
efficacy of Christ's atonement, says, in the fifth and 
succeeding verses : " Wherefore, when he cometh into 
the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou 
wouldst not, but a bod/y hast thou prepared me. In 
burnt offerings and sacrifices for sins, thou hast had 
no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come [in the vol- 
ume of the book it is written of me] to do thy will, 
O God." Here Christ's existence before coming into 
the world is clearly implied. " When he cometh into 
the world' 1 ' 1 — "a body hast thou prepared me" — 
" Do, I come to do thy will," etc. Now, since he 
existed before appearing in the flesh, how did he 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 239 

exist ? As man f No ; even this, Unitarians would 
not assert. As an angel ? No ; this would be 
equally inadmissible. There is, then, but one other 
mode of being — the Divine. Christ, then, did 
exist as a Divine being, prior to his birth in Bethle- 
hem. But these words teach that a body was pre- 
pared for him ; that is, lie took upon him the human 
nature — just as John informs us " The Word was 
made flesh, and dwelt among us," and as Paul else- 
where affirms, " Forasmuch, then, as the children 
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also, himself, 
likewise took part of the same, that through death he 
might destroy him that had the power of death — 
that is, the devil." " For verily, he took not on him 
the nature of angels ; but he took on him the seed of 
Abraham." Let the dispassionate reader carefully 
examine this language. " He took not on him the 
nature of angels," and " he took on him the seed of 
Abraham." What can be more significant than this ? 
A person previously existing — the "logos" the 
Word — takes to himself a body, for a specific pur- 
pose; "he is made flesh." He thus, while in the 
flesh, and as to his human nature, and in the fullfil- 
ment of his purpose, is subordinate to the Father ; 
though in his Divine nature, he is his equal. Surely, 
this is the only rational explanation of these other- 
wise incomprehensible portions of Scripture. 

And this explanation involves no contradictions, 
no absurdities. That Christ may be in one sense an 
equal with the Father, and in another sense inferior 
to him, can not be denied. It is only when it is 



240 HEA VENL r LIGHT 

alleged that he is at once, and in the same sense, his 
equal and his subordinate, that the absurdity appears. 
But this is never affirmed. He is the equal of the 
Father in one capacity, and inferior to him in 
another / and in this, there is neither contradiction 
nor absurdity. 

The practical bearings of the question here raised, 
are of the most important character. There are 
times in the religious history of the human soul, 
when nothing but the view of Christ as a man, will 
satisfy. When the sinner is bowed down under a 
burden of guilt, and he realizes the need of some 
one to sympathize with him, to enter into his feel- 
ings, and take part with him in his great sorrow, 
then he can look to Jesus as a perfect man, able and 
willing to bear a part of his afflictions — to soothe 
him in his sadness, instead of driving him in stern- 
ness and severity away. Nothing, at such times, 
will comfort the bowed soul, but a view of the " man 
of sorrows." Then, the human view of Christ's 
character becomes the only ground of relief. So, 
too, is it oftentimes with the child of God. When 
tempted almost beyond endurance, when the crush- 
ing weight of heavy trials rests upon him, he loves 
to go to him who was tempted in all points like this. 
At such times, the bosom of the man Christ Jetus 
becomes the pillow upon which the Christian can lay 
his aching head, and find rest. 

Then, on the other hand, when the awakened sin- 
ner gains a view, as he surely will at some point in 
his experience, of the majesty and glory of the 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 2 4 1 

Divine law — when the great and overwhelming 
thought rushes in upon his soul, that that law is holy, 
and that its infinitely righteous claims have been by 
him violated — when he sees, as see he will, that he 
rests under an infinite guilt, and is exposed to an 
infinite punishment — then will he realize that he 
needs an infinite arm to rescue him from his peril. 
At such times, it is not " the man Christ Jems" to 
whom he will look, but to " the Loed from heaven" 
Then will he feel that for him nought will avail but 
the deliverance to be wrought by an Almighty 
power ; and he will fly to the arms of Jesus, with 
the cry of the believing Thomas, " My Lord and my 
God." 

It will, we think, be safe to say that no man has 
ever had a genuine Christian experience, who has 
not found this twofold view of Christ's nature need- 
ful to his comfort ; and equally safe to say that it is 
only those who have never had a true Christian 
experience, who deny to Christ the possession of this 
twofold nature. Those alone who have never known 
illness, will deny the efficacy of remedial agents. 
Those who have never known the pinchings of pov- 
erty, can alone deny to an easy competence the satis- 
faction which it brings. 

Reader, have you felt the need of a sympathizing 
Saviour f You will not, then, deny Christ's human- 
ity. Have you felt your need of an Almighty deliv- 
erer ? You will not, then, deny Christ's Divinity. 
In your sorrows, have you beheld him a man ? In 
your weakness, impotency, and guilt, have you seen 

16 



242 HE A VENL T LIGHT, ETC. 

him a God ? As God-man", has your soul rested upon 
him, and found peace ? Remember that it is only in 
this twofold nature that he can be the Saviour of 
your soul. He must make himself known to you as 
the " Man of Sorrows," and as the " Loed from 
heaven." You must realize, under a discovery of 
your own spiritual wants, that " it behooved him to 
be made like unto his beethben," " to make recon- 
ciliation for the sins of the people ;" and that he is 
yet and ever " the Teue God and Eteenal Life." 
This is what Paul appropriately terms, " The mys- 
tery of Godliness. God manifest in the Flesh." 
This is the solution of Isaiah's wondrous utterance, 
" Unto us a child is born ; unto us a Son is given ; 
and his name shall be called Wondeeful, Counsel- 
loe, The Mighty God, The Eveelasting Fathee, 
The Peince of Peace." A " child born," a " Son 
given," and yet " The Mighty God. The Eveelast- 
ing Fathee." 

Take him, reader, in the arms of your faith, as a 
Man, your " Eldee Beothee," sympathizing in all 
your sins and sorrows ; and as a God, " Mighty to 

Save." 



CHAPTEK XIV. 



" A sinless God, for sinful men 

Descends to suffer and to bleed ; 
Hell must renounce its empire, then; 

The price is paid, the world is freed ; 
And Satan's self must now confess 
That Christ has earned the right to bless." — Bronte. 



" What think ye of Christ ?" — Matt. xxii. 42. 



We have examined, in the last two chapters, the 
important doctrine of Christ's Divinity. We have 
also seen in what sense Jesus is represented in 
Scripture as being inferior to the Father. This 
investigation has clearly revealed the fact that Christ, 
in his essential being, is truly God, whilst as to his 
human nature, and in his official or mediatorial 
capacity, he is subject to the Father. For a time 
and for a purpose, Christ acts for the Godhead, in 
the great work of redemption ; and while so acting, 
he is made, by his own consent, subject to the 
Father's will. In all the essentials of his being, 
then, he was ever, is ever, and continues ever to be, 
the Teue and Living God ; though, for a specific 



244 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

purpose, and for a time, he consents to act in a 
capacity subordinate to the Father. 

Having thus disposed satisfactorily of these ques- 
tions, the way might be regarded as open for the 
discussion of some one of the many other great doc- 
trines of the Word of God, which demand attention. 
It is important, however, before leaving the subject 
of Christ's Divinity, that we consider, in connection 
with it, one remarkable fact, demonstrated in the 
history of the world. We refer to the astonishing 
unwillingness of the- great mass of mankind, even in 
Christian lands, to accept of the Lord Jesus Christ 
as the Divine Saviour of a lost tvorld. It is a mel- 
ancholy truth that, whilst nearly all, in every com- 
munity, readily admit the existence of God the 
Father, few, except those who are professing Christ- 
ians, are found, who acknowledge Jesus Christ the 
Son of God. Let the question be asked of a non- 
professor, " Do you believe in Godf and the 
response' will be prompt and decided, " Most cer- 
tainly." Let the question, however, be, " Do you 
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Divine 
Saviour of a lost world ?" and you will receive either 
a slow and hesitating response in the affirmative, or 
an absolute denial. 

The fact to which we now allude is very clearly 
exhibited in the conduct of the world's rulers, her 
kings, emperors, governors, 'presidents, senators, states- 
men, generals, and diplomatists. How ready all are 
to own God the Father, but how few ever recognize 
Christ as God, and honor him as such ? Can there 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 245 

be any good reason assigned for this remarkable 
fact? If Jesus were nothing in himself — if be 
were nothing to the world, if he had done nothing 
for man, if he were noxo doing nothing, if he were 
to be nothing to us, and to do nothing for us during 
eternity — then could we see a reason for this wide- 
spread indifference. But when we reflect that the 
Bible declares Christ to be the " true God," the 
" King of Kings and Lord of Lords," — when we 
know that he became flesh and dwelt among us, in 
order that he might redeem the world from sin — 
when we remember all the wondrous details of his 
history, his birth, his miracles, his teachings, his 
example, his death, his resurrection, his ascension — 
when we consider how he is at present employed, 
pleading at the right hand of God the Father, for a 
world steeped in sin — when we remember that we 
are not done with him, that he is to come again, in 
the clouds of heaven, when every eye shall see him — 
that he is to sit upon the throne of eternal judgment, 
and call before him every soul that has lived, that 
now lives, or that shall live, and that from his lips 
shall fall the words which shall seal the doom of 
every human being, to all eternity — when we think 
of all this, is it not wonderful, amazing, past compre- 
hension, that his very existence should be ignored — 
that he should be ruled out of the world which he 
has made, and that, so far as they can do it, men 
should banish from their minds " the name which is 
above every name T Is it not strange that he whose 
relations to earth are so intimate, so touching, so 



246 HEAVENLY LIGHT ', 

beneficent, so constant — whose whole life was one 
grand charity — whose every pulse-beat, whose every 
heart-throb, whose every footstep, whose every tear, 
and groan, and pang, was for man — is it not strange 
that he who lived, and toiled, and died, for man, 
should be treated by man with neglect — yea, worse, 
with hatred, with contempt, and with scorn f 

We can well conceive of the world's treating its 
tyrants and oppressors thus. We wonder not that 
Rome should blush at the mention of her Cataline, 
or her Nero, and seek to blot their names from the 
memory of future generations. We wonder not that 
Scotland shudders at the name of Claverhouse, and 
that America disowns her Arnold with loathing. 
But why should Rome forget her Brutus and her 
Cassias ? Why should Scotland cease to honor her 
Wallace and her Knox ? And why should America 
pour contempt and scorn upon her Washington and 
Franklin ? But higher than all earth's mightiest 
and best, than her most warmly cherished and most 
deeply loved, than those to whom she freely accords 
the loftiest meed of praise and the most enduring 
testimonials of affection, stands the Holt One, whom 
she foully persecuted while living, whom she basely 
murdered, and upon whom she this day heaps her 
dishonorable neglect, her shameless ingratitude, and 
her bitter scorn. 

While this is true of the great mass of mankind, 
there yet have been those who, although not distin- 
guished for their piety, have, nevertheless, seen and 
confessed the true character of Christ. Remarkable 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 2^7 

among these confessions, is that of Napoleon Bona- 
parte, made to General Bertrand, upon the Island 
of St. Helena. As the opinion of this most gifted 
man is so clear and forcible, and is presented with 
all that native eloquence and power for which he 
was distinguished, we give it entire. Said Napo- 
leon, on a certain occasion, addressing General Ber- 
trand : 

" I know men, and I tell you that Jesus Christ 
is not a man. Superficial minds see a resemblance 
between Christ and the founders of empires, and the 
gods of other religions. That resemblance does not 
exist. There is between Christianity and whatever 
other religion, the distance of infinity. 

" We can say to the authors of every other religion, 
You are neither gods nor the agents of Deity. You 
are but missionaries of falsehood, moulded from the 
same clay with the rest of mortals. You are made 
with all the passions and vices inseparable from 
them. Your temples and your priests proclaim your 
origin. Such will be the judgment, the cry of con- 
science, of whoever examines the gods and the tem- 
ples of paganism. 

" Paganism was never accepted as truth by the 
wise men of Greece, neither by Socrates, Pythagoras, 
Plato, Anaxagoras, or Pericles. But, on the other 
side, the loftiest intellects since the advent of Christ- 
ianity, have had faith, a living faith, a practical faith, 
in the mysteries and the doctrines of the Gospel ; 
not only Bossuet and Fenelon, who were preachers, 



248 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

but Descartes and Newton, Liebnitz and Pascal, Cor- 
neille and Racine, Charlemagne and Louis XIV. 

" Paganism is the work of man. One can here 
read but our imbecility. What do these gods, so 
boastful, know more than other mortals ? these legis- 
lators, Greek or Roman ? this Numa, this Lycurgus? 
these priests of India or of Memphis ? this Confu- 
cius ? this Mohammed ? Absolutely nothing. They 
have made a perfect chaos of morals. There is not 
one among them all who has said any thing new in 
reference to our future destiny, to the soul, to the 
essence of God, to the creation. Enter the sanctua- 
ries of Paganism ; you find there perfect chaos — 
a thousand contradictions, war between the gods, the 
immobility of sculpture, the division and the rending 
of unity, the parcelling out of the Divine attributes, 
mutilated or denied in their essence, the sophisms of 
ignorance and presumption, polluted fetes, impurity 
and abomination adored, all sorts of corruption fes- 
tering in the thick shades, with the rotten wood, 
the idol, and his priest. Does this honor God, or 
does it dishonor him ? Are these religions and these 
gods to be compared with Christianity ? 

" As for me, I say no. I summon entire Olympus 
to my tribunal. I judge the gods, but am far from 
prostrating myself before their vain images. The 
gods, the legislators of India and of China, of Rome 
and of Athens, have nothing which can overawe me. 
Not that I am unjust to them ; no, I appreciate 
them, because I know their value. Undeniably, 
princes whose existence is fixed in the memory as an 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 249 

image of order and of power, as the ideal of force 
and beauty — such princes were no ordinary men. 

" I see in Lycurgus, Nuuia and Mohammed, 
only legislators, who, having the first rank in the 
state, have sought the best solution of the social 
problem ; but I see nothing there which reveals 
Divinity. They themselves have never raised their 
pretensions so high. As for me, I recognize the gods 
and these great men as beings like myself. They 
have performed a lofty part in their times, as I have 
done. Nothing announces them Divine. On the 
contrary, there are numerous resemblances between 
them and myself — foibles and errors, which ally 
them to me and to humanity. 

" It is not so with Christ. Every thing in him 
astonishes me. His spirit overawes me, and his will 
confounds me. Between him and whoever else in 
the world, there is no possible term of comparison. 
He is truly a being by himself. His ideas and his sen- 
timents, the truths which he announces, his manner 
of convincing, are not explained either by human 
organization or by the nature of things. 

" His birth, and the history of his life ; the pro- 
fundity of his doctrine, which grapples the mightiest 
difficulties, and which is, of those difficulties, the 
most admirable solution; his Gospel; his apparition; 
his empire ; his march across the ages and the realms; 
every thing is for me a prodigy, a mystery insoluble, 
which plunges me into a reverie from which I can 
not escape ; a mystery which is there before my eyes ; 



2SO HE A VENL T LIGHT 

a mystery which I can neither deny nor explain. 
Here I see nothing human. 

" The nearer I approach, the more carefully I 
examine, every thing is above me, every thing 
remains grand — of a grandeur which overpowers. 
His religion is a revelation from an intelligence which 
certainly is not that of man. There is there a profound 
originality, which has created a series of words and 
of maxims before unknown. Jesus borrowed nothing 
from our sciences. One can absolutely find no where, 
but in him alone, the imitation or the example of his 
life. He is not a philosopher, since he advances by 
miracles ; and, from the commencement, his disciples 
worshiped him. He persuades them far more by an 
appeal to the heart, than by any display of method 
and of logic. Neither did he impose upon them any 
preliminary studies, or any knowledge of letters. 
All his religion consists in believing. 

" In fact, the sciences and philosophy avail nothing 
for salvation ; and Jesus came into the world to 
reveal the mysteries of heaven and the laws of the 
Spirit. Also, he has nothing to do but with the 
soul ; and to that alone he brings his Gospel. The 
soul is sufficient for him, as he is sufficient for the 
soul. Before him, the soul was nothing. Matter 
and time were the masters of the world. At his 
voice, every thing returns to order. Science and 
philosophy become secondary. The soul has recon- 
quered its sovereignty. All the scholastic scaffold- 
ing falls, as an edifice ruined, before one single 
word — faith. 



FOR EAR THE T FIRESIDES. 25 I 

u What a master and what a word, which can 
effect such a revolution ! With what authority does 
he teach men to pray ! He imposes his belief, and 
no one, thus far, has been able to contradict him ; 
first, because the Gospel contains the purest morality ; 
and also because the doctrine which it contains, of 
obscurity, is only the proclamation and the truth of 
that which exists where no eye can see and no reason 
can penetrate. Who is the insensate who will say 
no to the intrepid voyager who recounts the marvels 
of the icy peaks which he alone has had the bold- 
ness to visit ? Christ is that bold voyager. One 
can doubtless remain incredulous, but no one can 
venture to say it is not so. 

"Moreover, consult the philosophers upon those 
mysterious questions which relate to the essence of 
man and to the essence of religion. What is their 
response ? Where is the man of good sense who 
has ever learned any thing from the system of 
metaphysics, ancient or modern, which is not 
truly a vain and pompous ideology, without any 
connection with our domestic life, with our 
passions? Unquestionably, with skill in think- 
ing, one can seize the key of the philosophy of Soc- 
rates and Plato ; but to do this, it is necessary to be 
a metaphysician ; and moreover, with years of study, 
one must possess special aptitude. But good sense 
alone, the heart, an honest spirit, are sufficient to 
comprehend Christianity. 

" The Christian religion is neither ideology nor 
metaphysics, but a practical rule which directs the 



2 5 2 HEA VENL Y LIGHT 

actions of man, corrects him, counsels him, and 
assists him in all his conduct. The Bible contains a 
complete series of facts and of historical men, to 
explain time and eternity; such as no other religion 
has to offer. If this is not the true religion, one is 
very excusable in being deceived, for every thing in 
it is grand and worthy of God. I search in vain in 
history to find the similar to Jesus Christ, or any 
thing which can approach the Gospel. Neither his- 
tory, nor humanity, nor the ages, nor nature, can 
offer me any thing with which I am able to compare 
it, or explain it. Here, every thing is extraordinary. 
The more I consider the Gospel, the more I am 
assured that there is nothing there which is not 
beyond the march of events, and above the human 
mind. Even the impious themselves have never 
dared to deny the sublimity of the Gospel, which 
inspires them with a sort of compulsory veneration. 
"What happiness that book procures for them who 
believe it ! What marvels those admire there who 
reflect upon it ! Book unique, where the mind finds 
a moral beauty before unknown, and an idea of the 
Supreme, superior even to that which creation sug- 
gests ! Who but God could produce that type, that 
ideal of perfection, equally exclusive and original ? 
" Christ, having but a few weak disciples, was 
condemned to death. He died, the object of the 
wrath of the Jewish piiests, and of the contempt 
of the nation, and abandoned and denied by his own 
disciples. 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 253 

" ' They are about to take me, and to crucify me,' 
said lie. ' I shall be abandoned of all the world. 
My chief disciple will deny me at the commencement 
of my punishment. I shall be left to the wicked. 
But then, Divine justice being satisfied, original sin 
being expiated by my sufferings, the bond of man 
to God will be renewed, and my death will be the 
life of my disciples. Then they will be more strong 
without me than with me, for they will see me rise 
again. I shall ascend to the skies, and I shall send 
to them from heaven a Spirit who will instruct them. 
The spirit of the cross will enable them to under- 
stand my Gospel. In fine, they will believe it, they 
will preach it, and they will convert the world.' 

"And this strange promise, so aptly called by 
Paul the ' foolishness of the cross,' this prediction 
of one miserably crucified, is literally accomplished ; 
and the mode of the accomplishment is perhaps more 
prodigious than the promise. 

" It is not a day, nor a battle, which has decided it. 
Is it the life-time of a man ? No ! It is a war, a 
long combat of three hundred years, commenced by 
the Apostles, and continued by their successors and 
by succeeding generations of Christians. In this 
conflict, all the kings and all the forces of the earth 
were arrayed on one side. Upon the other, I see no 
army, but a mysterious energy, individuals scattered 
here and there in all parts of the globe, having no 
other rallying sign than a common faith in the mys- 
teries of the cross. 

" What a mysterious symbol ! the instrument of 



254 HEA VENL Y LIGHT 

the punishment of the uian-God ! His disciples were 
armed with it. ' The Christ,' they said ; ' God has 
died for the salvation of men.' "What a strife, what 
a tempest, these simple words have raised around 
the humble standard of the sufferings of the man- 
God ! On the one side we see rage, and all the 
furies of hatred and violence ; on the other, there is 
gentleness, moral courage, infinite resignation. For 
three hundred years, spirit struggled against the 
brutality of sense, the conscience against despotism, 
the soul against the body, virtue against all the vices. 
The blood of Christians flowed in torrents. They 
died, kissing the hand which slew them. The soul 
alone protested, while the body surrendered itself to 
all tortures. Every where Christians fell, and every 
■where they triumphed. 

" You speak of Caesar, of Alexander, of their 
conquests, and of the enthusiasm they enkindled 
in the hearts of their soldiers ; but can you con- 
ceive of a dead man making conquests, with an 
army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory ? 
My armies have forgotten me, even while living, as 
the Carthaginian army forgot Hannibal. Such is 
our power! A single battle lost crushes us, and 
adversity scatters our friends. 

" Can you conceive of Caesar, the eternal emperor 
of the Roman Senate, and from the depths of his 
mausoleum governing the empire, watching over the 
destinies of Rome % Such is the history of the inva- 
sion and conquest of the world by Christianity. 
Such is the power of the God of the Christians, and 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 255 

such is the perpetual miracle of the progress of the 
faith and of the government of his Church. Nations 
pass away, thrones crumble, but the Church remains. 
What is then the power which has protected this 
Churcli, thus assailed by the furious billows of rage 
and the hostility of ages ? Where is the arm which, 
for eighteen hundred years, has protected the Church 
from so many storms which have threatened to 
ingulf it ? 

" In every other existence but that of Christ, how 
many imperfections ! Where is the character which 
has not yielded, vanquished by obstacles ? Where 
is the individual who has never been governed by 
circumstances or places, who has never succumbed 
to the influence of the times, who has never com- 
pounded with any customs or passions ? From the 
first day to the last, he is the same, always the same, 
majestic and simple, infinitely firm and infinitely 
gentle. 

" Truth should embrace the universe. Such is 
Christianity, the only religion which destroys sec- 
tional prejudice, the only one which proclaims the 
unity and the absolute brotherhood of the whole 
human family, the only one which is purely spirit- 
ual — in fine, the only one which assigns to all, with- 
out distinction, for a true country, the bosom of the 
Creator, God. Christ proved that he was the Son 
of the Eternal, by his disregard of time. All his 
doctrines signify one only and the same thing — 
Eternity. 

" It is true that Christ proposed to our faith a 



256 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

series of mysteries. He commands, with authority, 
that we should believe them, giving no other reason 
than those tremendous words : ' I am God. 1 He 
declares it. What an abyss he creates, by that 
declaration, between himself and all the fabricators 
of religion ! What audacity, what sacrilege, what 
blasphemy, if it were not true ! I say more : the 
universal triumph of an affirmation of that kind, if 
the triumph were not really that of God himself, 
would be a plausible excuse and a reason for atheism. 

"Moreover, in propounding mysteries, Christ is 
harmonious with Nature, which is profoundly mys- 
terious. From whence do I come ? whither do I go ? 
who am I ? Human life is a mystery, in its origin, 
its organization, and its end. In man and out of 
man, in nature, every thing is mysterious. And can 
one wish that religion should not be mysterious? 
The creation and the destiny of the world are an 
unfathomable abyss, as also is the creation and the des- 
tiny of each individual. Christianity, at least, does 
not evade these great questions. It meets them 
boldly. And our doctrines are a solution of them, 
for every one who believes. 

" The Gospel possesses a secret virtue, a myste- 
rious efficacy, a warmth which penetrates and soothes 
the heart. One finds, in meditating upon it, that 
which one experiences in contemplating the heavens. 
The Gospel is not a book ; it is a living being, with 
an action, a power, which invades every thing that 
opposes its extension. Behold it upon this table, 
this book surpassing all others," (here the Emperor 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 257 

solemnly placed his hand upon it) ; " I never omit 
to read it, and every day with the same pleasure. 

" No where is to be found such a series of beautiful 
ideas, admirable moral maxims, which defile like the 
battalions of a celestial army, and which produce 
in our soul the same emotion which one experiences 
in contemplating the infinite expanse of the skies, 
resplendent in a summer's night with all the bril- 
liance of the stars. Not only is our mind absorbed, 
it is controlled, and the soul can never go astray with 
this book for its guide. Once master of our spirit, 
the faithful Gospel loves us. God even is our friend, 
our father, and truly our God. The mother has no 
greater care for the infant whom she nurses. 

" What a proof of the divinity of Christ ! With 
an empire so absolute, he has but one single end, 
the spiritual melioration of individuals, the purity 
of conscience, the union to that which is true, the 
holiness of the soul. 

" Christ speaks, and at once generations become 
his by stricter, closer ties than those of blood — by 
the most sacred, the most indissoluble of all unions. 
He lights up the flames of a love which consumes 
self-love, which prevails over every other love. The 
founders of other religions never conceived of this 
mystical love, which is the essence of Christianity, 
and is beautifully called charity. In every attempt 
to effect this thing, namely, to make himself beloved, 
man deeply feels his own impotence. So that 
Christ's greatest miracle undoubtedly is the reign 
of charity. 
17 



258 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

11 1 have so inspired multitudes that they would 
die for me. God forbid that I should form any 
comparison between the enthusiasm of the soldier, 
and Christian charity, which are as unlike as their 
cause. But, after all, my presence was necessary ; 
the lightning of my eye, my voice, a word from me, 
then the sacred fire was kindled in their hearts. I 
do, indeed, possess the secret of this magical power, 
which lifts the soul, but I could never impart it to 
any one. None of my generals ever learned it from 
me ; nor have I the means of perpetuating my 
name, and love for me, in the hearts of men, and to 
effect these things without physical means. 

" Now that I am at St. Helena, now that I am 
alone, chained upon this rock, who fights and wins 
empires for me ? who are the courtiers of my mis- 
fortune ? who thinks of me ? who makes efforts for 
me in Europe ? Where are my friends ? Yes, two 
or three, whom your fidelity immortalizes, you share, 
you console my exile." 

Here the voice of the emperor trembled with 
emotion, and for a moment he was silent. He then 
continued : 

" Yes, our life once shone with all the brilliance 
of the diadem and the throne ; and yours, Bertrand, 
reflected that splendor, as the dome of the Invalides, 
gilt by us, reflects the rays of the sun. But dis- 
asters came ; the gold gradually became dim. The 
ruin of misfortune and outrage, with which I am 
daily deluged has effaced all the brightness. We 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 259 

are mere lead now, General Bertrand, and soon I 
shall be in my grave. 

" Such is the fate of great men ! So it was with. 
Caesar and Alexander. And I, too, am forgotten. 
And the name of a conqueror and an emperor is a 
college theme ! Our exploits are tasks given to 
pupils by tlieir tutor, who sit in judgment upon us, 
awarding censure or praise. And mark what is 
soon to become of me ! assassinated by the English 
oligarchy, I die before my time ; and my dead body, 
too, must return to the earth, to become food for 
worms. Behold the destiny, near at hand, of him 
who has been called the great Napoleon ! What an 
abyss between my deep misery and the eternal reign 
of Christ, which is proclaimed, loved, adored, and 
which is extending over all the earth ! Is this to 
die ? Is it not rather to live ? The death of 
Christ ! It is the death of God." 

For a moment the Emperor was silent. As Gen- 
eral Bertrand made no reply, he solemnly added, 
" If you do not perceive that Jesus Christ is God, 
very well, then I did wrong to make you a general." 

Reader, do you say, " This is, after all, only the 
opinion of a man ?" True ; but how valuable, aa 
the opinion of one of the most profound minds 
which has ever appeared on earth ! It is evident 
that this conclusion was not hastily reached. The 
whole process of this argument shows study and 
research. Napoleon had evidently investigated this 
vital point with the utmost care ; and his conclusion 
is, that Christ is God. We ask you not to accede to 



260 



HEA VENL T LIGHT, ETC. 



this conclusion because any man, however great, has 
reached it, but we ask you to investigate, prayerfully 
and dispassionately, fully believing that you need to 
know Christ as God before you will trust him as 
your Saviour. You will not look to him with that 
implicit confidence needful to your soul's salvation, 
until you have seen him by the eye of faith, 

"THE TRUE GOD AND ETERNAL LIFE." , 



CHAPTER XV. 



M He to his own a Comforter will send 
The promise of the Father, who shall dwell 
His spirit within them, and the law of faith, 
Working through love, upon their hearts shall write, 
To guide them in all truth." — Milton. 

" When he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all 
truth." — John xvi. 13. 



We are brought, in the progress of this discussion, 
to the consideration of the character and work of the 
Holy Spirit, the third person in the Trinity. Of 
course those who deny the tri-personality of the 
Godhead, bring numerous objections against the 
views we are now to advocate. They deny that 
there is such a person as the Holy Spirit. They 
erroneously affirm that what the Scriptures term 
"the Holy Spirit," "the Holy Ghost," "the Com- 
forter," is not a person, but merely an attribute of the 
Father, or an influence which goes out from him, to 
exert its power upon the minds and hearts of men. 
This, then, being the principal objection we have to 
meet in this connection, we ask the reader to con- 
sider, in the light of Scripture, its utter fallacy. 



262 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



The first question to be considered, is this : Do 
the Scriptures clearly teach the distinct personality of 
the Holy Spirit ? — that he is as really a person in the 
Godhead as the Father or the Son ? 

In answering this question, we must confine our- 
selves to the presentation of a, few only of the many 
texts which might be cited in proof; but the reader 
will find those we shall quote to be entirely conclu- 
sive. 

Let us, then, first of all, consider that remarkable 
declaration of our Saviour, found in the 16th chapter 
of John's Gospel, commencing with the 7th verse : 
" Nevertheless I tell you the truth ; it is expedient 
for you that I go away ; for if I go not away, the 
Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart 
I will send him unto you. And when he is 
come, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteous- 
ness, and of judgment — of sin, because they believe 
not on me ; of righteousness, because I go to my 
Father, and ye see me no more ; of judgment, 
because the prince of this world is judged. I have 
many things to say unto you, but ye can not bear 
them now. Howbeit, lohen he, the Spirit of Truth, is 
come, he tvili guide you into all truth. For he shall 
not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, 
that shall he speak ; and he will show you things to 
come. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of 
mine, and shall show it unto you." Now we ask any 
candid person, is this such language as Christ would 
have used if he were speaking simply of an attribute, 
or quality of the Father ? See the personal pronoun 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 263 

as employed all through this quotation. " He will 
coine," " he will reprove," " he will speak," " he will 
guide," " he will hear," etc. It is utterly impossible 
to suppose that Christ would have employed such 
language if the Spirit were only an attribute. If he 
is not here designating a person, then is language 
impotent to do it. 

But again, in John xv. 26, we have a proof equally 
emphatic : " When the Comforter is come whom I 
will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit 
of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he 
shall testify of me." Now, if this were not a person, 
how easy it would have been for Christ to have said, 
" it shall testify of me." Had this " Comforter," 
this " Spirit of Truth," been nothing more than an 
influence flowing forth from the Father, our Saviour 
would have used, without question, language which 
could not be misunderstood. And this view is still 
further strengthened by the almost countless declar- 
ations of the inspired Apostles. Hear Paul : " Eye 
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered 
into the heart of man, the things which God hath 
prepared for them that love him ; but God hath 
revealed them unto us by his Spirit ; for the Spirit 
seakcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." 
Now, what idea can you form of one of God's attri- 
butes or graces, " searching the deep things of Godf 
Unless we admit that the Spirit is a person, it will 
be perceived at once that the Apostle here is made 
to utter nonsense. 

So, too, we ask you to consider those remarkable 



2 64 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

words of Paul, in the 8th chapter of the Epistle to 
the Romans : " Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our 
infirmities ; for we know not what we should pray 
for as we ought ; hut the Spirit itself maketh interces- 
sion for us, tvith groaning s which can -not he uttered. 
And he that searcheth the heart knoweth what is 
the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh interces- 
sion for the saints, according to the will of God. 1 ' 
This is entirely clear, and well nigh conclusive. 
Though we might say that one of God's attributes 
could help our infirmities, and so enlighten us that 
we would pray for such things as we ought ; still, it 
would be an utter perversion of language to say that 
an attribute could pray for us, could intercede for us 
with groanings, or could have a mind whose opera- 
tions could be known to God. Yet this is just what 
is here affirmed. This person prays, he intercedes 
with the Father, and a mind, and mental powers and 
operations are ascribed to him. " Who hath known 
the mind of the Spirit ?" Is not this, then, some- 
thing more than a Divine attribute, a grace, & power, 
an influence ? Is it not verily a person — the tJiird 
person in the Godhead ? 

But still further ; consider what Peter says to 
Ananias and Sapphira, who, it will be remembered, 
were guilty of the grossest duplicity and falsehood, 
for which they forfeited their lives. The language is 
found in the 5th chapter of the Acts, and is as 
follows : " But Peter said, Ananias ! why hath SataR 
filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and t<; 
keep back part of the price of the land ? While i ; 



FOR EARTHL T FIRESIDES. 265 

remained, was it not thine own ; and after it was 
sold, was it not in thine own power % Why hast 
thou conceived this thing in thine heart ? Thou 
hast not lied unto men, but unto God" Can it be 
possible that Peter here charges Ananias with lying 
to one of God's attributes ? When he says, "Why 
hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy 
Ghost ?" what does he mean ? Will not every can- 
did reader say at once, the only rational construction 
to be placed upon these words is, that Ananias had 
lied to a person / had sinned, in other words, against 
the third person in the Holy Trinity ? This view is 
confirmed by those familiar injunctions, " Grieve not 
the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto 
the day of redemption" and "Quench not the Spirit" 
and also by that remarkable language of Christ 
(Matt. xii. 31, 32), "Wherefore, I say unto you, all 
manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto 
men ; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost 
shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever 
speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be 
forgiven him ; but whosoever speaketh agaiust the 
Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in 
this world neither in the world to come." 

Now, whatever difficulty we may have in deter- 
mining what constitutes the sin against the Holy 
Ghost, we have no difficulty in perceiving that there 
is such a sin. It is here called " blasphemy against 
the Holy Ghost." Certainly, no one will be so reck- 
less as to affirm that one can blaspheme against an 
influence, or an attribute. To assert this, would 



2 66 



HEA VBNL T LIGHT 



justly subject one's self to ridicule. Then, too, it is 
termed speaking against the Holy Ghost, and is' con- 
trasted with speaking against Christ. Who does not 
see that the only natural construction to be placed 
upon these words, is that the Holy Ghost, like Christ, 
is a person, against whom sinners can blaspheme ; in 
reference to whom they can use such desperately 
wicked language that forgiveness is denied them ? 
Certainly, every candid man, in reading these words, 
will say this is the only fair construction to put upon 
them. 

And now, we detain the reader upon this part of 
the subject only while we call attention to two other 
passages. The one is the great commission of Christ 
to his Apostles : " Go ye, therefore, and teach all 
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." And the 
other is the Apostolic benediction : " The grace of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the 
communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all." 
What violence would be done to our better judg- 
ments if we were told that the first and second per- 
sons here named were truly personal existences, but 
that the third, named just as the others, is only an 
influence / a property ; a grace ; a quality ? Who can 
believe this ? What nonsense, to assert that Christ 
sent forth his Apostles to preach under a commis- 
sion, in which God the Father, and God the Son, are 
named in connection with a something else, which is 
only an attribute or quality of the Father ? And 
what nonsense to assert that in the formula for the 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 267 

solemnization of baptism, we are enjoined to baptize 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost, which last is only an attribute of the 
Father ! We are amazed at the infatuation which 
would so pervert the Scriptures. We must be on 
our guard against it. The Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost, are manifestly three distinct personalities in 
the one Godhead. Each one is " God of very God." 
Each is to be honored, loved, revered, and served, as 
the other two ; and it is only when so doing that we 
demonstrate an intelligent conception of revelation. 

Having now seen that the Holy Spirit is indeed a 
person of the Godhead, and not a mere attribute, 
quality, or property of Deity, we turn to consider, 

II. The agency of the Spirit in the affairs of earth. 
And here we enter upon a great theme, which can 
only be very imperfectly considered in the limits of 
this chapter. 

It may be remarked, however, in general, that the 
Scriptures, while fully recognizing the direct agency 
of the entire Godhead in the affairs of earth, yet 
distinctly teach that the immediate agent of Deity on 
earth is the Holy Ghost, who, prior to the descent 
of Christ, and after his resurrection and ascension, 
acted, and still acts, as the vicegerent of the Godhead 
in all the affairs of men. The language of Christ, 
during his active ministry of three years' duration, 
would seem to imply that for that space of time the 
Spirit was not so fully present with man, and so 
actively and intimately employed in the interests of 
earth as he had been, or as he was yet to be. Says 



268 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



Christ, "It is expedient for you that I go away ; for 
if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto 
you / but if I depart, I will send him unto you." 
And when this promise was fulfilled upon the day 
of Pentecost, the Holy Ghost is represented as coming 
down from heaven upon the disciples assembled in 
the name of the Lord. 

For four thousand years prior to this, however, the 
Holy Spirit had acted upon the earth as the vice- 
gerent of Deity. He it was who at creation moved 
upon the waters and brought order out of confusion, 
and light out of darkness. Before the flood he acted 
upon the minds and hearts of men, when God said, 
in regard to him : " My Spirit shall not always 
strive with man." The Psalmist, hundreds of years 
ago, recognized his presence in the memorable words, 
" Whither shall I go from thy Spirit ? or whither 
shall I flee from thy presence ? If I ascend up into 
heaven, thou art there ; if I make my bed in hell, 
behold thou art there ; if I take the wings of the 
morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the 
sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right 
hand shall hold me." He it is of whom Isaiah 
speaks, in the oft-quoted words, " When the enemy 
shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord 
shall lift up a standard against him." He it was who 
was recognized in that revelation to Zerubbabel by 
the lips of Zechariah : " Not by might, nor by 
power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." 
He it was who guided the minds and hearts of 
ancient prophets and poets, in making a record of 



FOR EARTHLT FIRESIDES. 269 

the Divine will ; for Peter declares that these " holy 
men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 
He it was who in the great mystery of the concep- 
tion of Christ acted for the Deity, so that the word 
being made flesh, "dwelt among us." Thus, for 
four thousand years, from the creation until the 
coming of Christ, such distinct recognition is made 
of the Spirit's presence and agency, that no room is 
left for question. And from his descent, upon the 
day of Pentecost, until the present moment, this 
same blessed being has been at work on the earth, 
the authorized agent of the Godhead in all that 
pertains to the work of Deity. 

Some, however, may regard what has now been 
said touching the Spirit's work as altogether too 
general. Let it be remarked, then, more particularly, 

1st. That it is the prerogative of the Spirit to 
restrain from evil. His power is continually ex- 
erted in withholding men from the commission 
of sins — from running into extremes of wicked- 
ness. This is a great work. It is undoubtedly 
to this prerogative of the Holy Spirit that that 
text refers which has been already quoted : " My 
Spirit shall not always strive with man." The 
connection in which these words are found clearly 
indicates their meaning. The world had grown 
exceedingly corrupt ; mankind had gone on from 
year to year, and from generation to generation, 
until God had resolved to sweep them, with the 
besom of destruction, from the face of the earth. 
They had filled up at length their cup of wrath, and 



27° HE A VENL T LIGHT 

now God says, " My Spirit shall no longer strive 
with them ; I leave them without restraints ; I give 
them over to themselves, that they may make their 
condemnation sure." 

This same truth is still further implied in that 
noble language of the proto-martyr, Stephen, when 
addressing the obstinate Jews bent upon his destruc- 
tion. He says : " Ye stiff-necked, and uncircum- 
cised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy 
Ghost." This certainly implies that the Spirit was 
striving with them ; that he was seeking to lead 
them away from sin, and into holiness ; away from 
corruption into purity ; but that they resisted the 
efforts put forth by him in divine compassion. What 
a mercy to man, to have such a being as this actively 
engaged in their behalf ! How careful should we be, 
lest we grieve him by our obstinate resistance offered 
to his blessed restraints ! 

2. Then, again, it is the prerogative of the Spirit 
to lead mankind into all spiritual truth / to enlighten 
them concerning the existence and nature of sin; their 
own characters as fallen beings ; the character of God 
and his laiu ; the nature of Christ and his atonement ; 
and generally to instruct and enlighten them in all the 
great themes bearing upon redemption. 

The Scriptures are very clear upon this point. 
"The Comforter," says Christ, " which is the Holy 
Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he 
shall teach you all things, and bring all things to 
your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto 
you." (John xiv. 26.) 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 2 7 1 

Equally explicit are those other words of our 
Saviour, " When he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he 
will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak 
of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall 
he speak, and he will show you things to come. He 
shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and 
show it unto you." How important the functions 
here described as belonging to the office work of the 
Holy Ghost ! He reveals the things of God to the 
mind of man. He unfolds the feelings, sympathies, 
aims, and purposes of Jehovah, to the soul of the 
believer. He " takes of the things of Christ," evi- 
dently those things in and of Christ, which relate to 
the redemption of a lost world, and shoivs them to 
those for whose temporal and eternal benefit they 
are designed. As at creation, the Spirit moved 
amid chaos, and brought order out of confusion,- 
light out of darkness, and beauty out of deformity, 
so now is he found in the soul of man, engaged in 
the same beneficent work. Darkness reigns in the 
soul until the Spirit gives it light, and error misleads 
it until the Spirit brings it to the truth. Glorious 
agent of light, and life, and peace ! He it is who 
makes of man a " new creature" and fits the soul for 
the abode of Deity. But, 

3. It is the Spirit's prerogative to convict every elect 
soul of its depravity / to lead it to see sin in all its 
enormity in the sight of God, and to repent of it with 
that godly sorrow xvhich is unto life eternal. 

Humiliating as it may be to the pride of man, and 
slow as he may be to make the admission, yet it is 



2 7 2 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

true that no soul will ever repent of sin, without the 
direct agency of the Holy Ghost. The language of 
Christ clearly implies this, when, speaking of the 
descent of the Spirit, he says, " He will reprove the 
world of sin." The word here translated " reprove " 
is the same which is elsewhere used to express convic- 
tion, as in John viii. 9 : "And they which heard it, 
being convicted by their own conscience?" 1 Also, in 1 
Corinthians xiv. 24 : " But if all prophesy, and there 
come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he 
is convinced of all." And also in James ii. 9 : " But 
if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are 
convinced of the law as transgressors." This, then 
according to the declaration of Christ, is a part of 
the office work of the Spirit. He convinces the 
world of sin. The soul lies unconscious of its bur- 
den of depravity and guilt until enlightened by the 
Holy Grhost. Awakened by this blessed agent, the 
sinner beholds his danger, and sees the fiery billows 
which roll beneath him. He will sleep on, like one 
resting in security upon a volcano, until the Holy 
Spirit opens his eyes to his danger. Sermons will 
be preached to him in vain ; prayers will ascend for 
him to no purpose ; admonitions, warnings, counsels, 
alarming providences, sickness, disease, death — all, 
all will be powerless until the Spirit shall move upon 
the adamantine heart, and melt it to contrition. 
How essential, then, to the happiness of the soul, 
that the third person in the Trinity should exert his 
glorious power in its behalf. Tnen, 

4. It is the prerogative of the Spirit to lead the 



FOR EAR THE Y FIRESIDES. 273 

convicted soul to Jesus, and to impart faith to it, so 
that it may see him the only Saviour, and rest upon 
him only for salvation. 

This is regeneration. Conviction is by no means 
the only effect wrought upon the soul by the Holy 
Spirit. If convicted, merely, the soul would sink 
down in rayless despair. A further effect must be 
wrought upon it. It must not only see its ruin, but 
must see that there is redemption for it. Jesus must 
be revealed to it as the only Saviour. It must be 
led to the cross. It must be brought to see the 
" King in his beauty." Christ must be revealed to 
it as the " chiefest among ten thousand." It must 
learn to trust in Jesus, to exercise faith in him, 
and to love him. Now all this is the effect of 
the direct agency of the Holy Ghost. This is 
clearly taught by the words of Paul in 1 Corin- 
thians xii. 3 : " Wherefore I give you to under- 
stand that no man, speaking by the Spirit of God, 
calleth Jesus accursed. And that no man can 
say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." 
To see Christ as the Lord of Glory, to own him as 
such, to rest in him with confidence as the only 
deliverer from sin and death, is a work wrought only 
by the Holy Ghost. How necessary, then, is the 
Spirit's agency, to our present and eternal felicity ! 
Let us see that we drive him not from us by our 
indifference. Then, 

5. It is the prerogative of the spirit to lead the 
regenerated said onward and upward in the divine 
life, becoming the active agent in sanctifcation, 

18 



274 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

causing it to grow in grace daily — advancing it in 
the pathway of purity and holiness, enabling it to 
die more and more unto sin, and live more and more 
unto righteousness. Having begun a good work in 
the soul, it is his to carry it on unto perfection. 

The Scriptures abound in proofs upon this point. 
Every where the soul's sanctification is ascribed to 
the third person in the Trinity. Consider such 
texts as the following : " I will put my Spirit 
within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, 
and ye shall keep my judgments to do them." 
(Ezek. xxxvi. 27.) " We are bound to give thanks 
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the 
Lord, because God hath chosen you to salvation 
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of 
the truth." (2 Thess. ii. 13). So too, Peter 
addresses his fellow Christians as " elect according 
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through 
sanctification of the Spirit." (1 Pet. i. 2.) And 
we are informed by Paul, that, "not by works of 
righteousness which we have done, but according 
to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regen- 
eration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. (Titus 
iii. 5). It is also well known that there are a great 
number of scripture passages which represent the 
children of God as under the continual guidance and 
control of this glorious Being. They are said " to 
walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit " — " to 
be under the law of the Spirit " — " to be after 
s the Spirit" — "to be spiritually minded" — "to 
have the Spirit dwelling in them " — " to be led 



FOR EARTHL Y FIRESIDES. 275 

by the Spirit " — " to have the Spirit of adoption " — 
" to have the first-fruits of the Spirit " — and they 
are told that "they are the temple of the Holy 
Ghost." All these are most significant expressions, 
and show how fully the third person in the Godhead 
has control of the regenerate, and how intimately 
associated he is with their whole spiritual life. 
All their growth in grace and progress in holiness 
is due to his relations to them, and his operations 
within them. Then 

6. It is the Spirit's prerogative to hear evidence 
to tJie soul, touching its regeneration. This is evi- 
dently the meaning of the words, " The Spirit itself 
beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the chil- 
dren of God." (Rom. viii. 16.) The Holy Ghost 
thus becomes the gracious source of comfortable 
assurance to the soul, touching its salvation. By 
means of the inspired Word — through the divinely 
appointed ordinances of religion, both public and 
private — through various providences, afflictions, 
and trials, overruled by this blessed Agent for 
spiritual good — and through direct contact with, 
and the exercise of, an immediate power upon the 
soul — does the Holy Ghost lead the regenerate 
nature to the comfortable knowledge that it is indeed 
" an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ, to a 
heavenly inheritance." It is through the Spirit 
alone, that we are enabled to say, " I know in whom 
I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to 
keep that which I have committed unto him, against 
that day." Through him, we can take up the exult- 



276 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

ant strain of the Apostle,- and cry, " We know that 
if the earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, 
we have a building of God, a house not made with 
hands, eternal in the heavens." It is through his 
gracious witness, bearing in and with our spirits, 
that we are enabled " to rejoice with a joy unspeak- 
able, and full of glory." 

7. It is the prerogative of the Holy Spirit to 
seal every regenerate soul to eternal life. Thus Paul 
says in the epistle to the Ephesians : " In whom 
also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that 
Holy Spirit of promise," and " grieve not the Holy 
Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day 
of redemption." " To seaV has a two-fold sig- 
nificance. It means, 1st, to attest or verify, as 
in the case of instruments of writing, such as deeds, 
mortgages, wills, etc., which are sealed that their 
genuineness may be attested. Thus, too, circum- 
cision is called by Paul, " the seal of the righteous- 
ness by faith," i. e., this rite was the mark by which 
the faith of Abraham was attested. So, too, Paul 
tells the Corinthians that they are the seal of his 
apostleship, i. e., by their regeneration, and holy 
lives, they attest the Divine commission of the 
apostle. But 2d, " to seal " means to secure, to make 
safe. We read that " the foundation of God 
standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth 
them that are his." John, in the Apocalyptic vision, 
saw a book sealed with seven seals. This was the 
book of God's decrees, and the seals signify that 
those decrees are immutable and sure. So, also, the 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 277 

sepulcber of Christ was made sure by sealing the 
stone at the mouth, and setting a watch. 

When, then, the Spirit seals a soul, he attests that 
that soul belongs to God. He sets God's mark upon 
it, and thenceforward it is God's. The soul that is 
sealed by the Holy Ghost is made sure for heaven. 
That seal can never be broken. 

Behold, then, the wonderful prerogatives of the 
Holy Spirit. It is his to restrain the world from 
the commission of moral evils ; to enlighten the indi- 
vidual soul touching the nature and desert of sin ; to 
convict the darkened mind of guilt ; to lead the 
awakened sinner to Christ ; to sanctify the soul, and 
lead it onward and upward continually in a life of 
holiness ; to hear ivitness with our spirits that we are 
the children of God ; and, crowning all, as the cap- 
stone of this arch of mercy, to seal the soul unto 
eternal life. This is the great, the comprehensive 
work wrought by the Holy Ghost, the third person 
in the Trinity, for a lost and ruined race. 

Reader, have you been made the subject of the 
Spirit's power, in these directions ? Has he opened 
your eyes to sin ? Has he brought you to Christ ? 
Is he working sanctification in your heart ? Has he 
sealed you to God ? He may even now be moving 
upon your soul. " Quench not the Spirit." " Grieve " 
him not. Open your hearts to the heavenly Messen- 
ger. Invite him in as a welcome guest, and he will 
cause you to " rejoice with a joy unspeakable and 
full of glory." He will preserve you from spiritual 
ruin, guard you from all temptations, shield you 



278 



HE A VENL T LIGHT, ETC. 



from all the assaults of the devil, and present you, 
at length, without a stain, before the throne of final 
judgment, to hear from Christ the welcome, "Well 
done, good and faithful servant ; enter thou into the 
joy of thy Lord." O then, as you value your eter- 
nal happiness, yield to the Holy Spieit's power. 
Let your prayer be, 

" Eternal Spirit, source of light, 

Enlivening, consecrating fire, 
Descend, and with celestial heat, 

My dull, my frozen heart inspire, 
My soul refine, my dross consume, 

Come, condescending Spirit, come." 



CHAPTER XVI. 



11 O God, thou bottomless abyss ! 

Thee to perfection who can know? 
O height immense ! what words suffice 

Thy countless attributes to show? 
Greatness unspeakable is thine; 

Greatness whose undiminished ray, 
When short-lived worlds are lost, shall shine 
When earth and heaven are fled away." 

John Wesley. 

'And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, 
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." — John xvii. 3. 



Those who have read consecutively the preceding 
chapters, will remember that we have considered, 
I. The fact of the Divine existence; and, 

II. The mode of that existence. 

In other words, we have seen that God exists, and 
that he exists in the mysterious union of three per- 
sons in one Godhead, known as Father, Son, and 
Holy Ghost. 

The next point falling naturally in order, and 
demanding consideration, is that of the Divine 
attributes. What are the perfections of this won- 
droits Being whose existence has now been demon- 
strated f 



28o 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



1. It must be evident to every intelligent reader, 
that we can not know God, in any comprehensive 
sense, until we have considered his attributes some- 
what in detail. We may admit all that we have as 
yet affirmed and proved touching the Divine Being, 
yet if we do not study his nature in its peculiarities, 
we have no adequate conception of him. How can 
we be said to know a friend or an acquaintance, 
unless we have studied his character and learned his 
distinguishing traits ; his virtues ; his peculiarities ? 
So, no man can know God as he should, until he has 
learned of his attributes, and carefully considered 
them in their variety and perfection. 

2. Moreover, an accurate knowledge of the Divine 
attributes, is absolutely essential to an intelligent 
Christianity. Without this knowledge, we can not 
build ourselves up in the faith of the Gospel. That 
man has a very imperfect knowledge of the laws of 
his religious being, who does not know that our 
faith in the system of truth taught in Scripture is 
strong, and our attachment to it sincere, just in 
proportion to the clearness and accuracy of our con- 
ception of the Divine perfections. This fact can not 
be insisted upon too strenuously. The history of the 
church in all ages demonstrates unmistakably, that 
just to the extent in which a true, clear, and compre- 
hensive knowledge of the Divine attributes has pre- 
vailed, just to that extent has there ever been a 
vigorous Christianity — a religion which, in its 
strength and power, has withstood the encroach- 
ments of error, and made inroads upon the domain 



FOR EARTHLT FIRESIDES. 



28l 



of Satan. And on the other hand, just in proportion 
as men have allowed obscure ov perverted conceptions 
of the Divine attributes to obtain possession of their 
minds, just to that extent religion has lost its power 
with them, and ceased to exert a controlling influence 
upon their lives. 

3. And the reason for this must be patent to 
every thoughtful person. God is the sum and center 
of true religion ; and the more clear, and full, and 
comprehensive our views of God, the more true and 
perfect will our religion be. A person who sees 
God only as a God of love, for instance, forgetting 
that justice is also one of his attributes, possesses but 
a partial, an imperfect, a one-sided religion. So he 
who admits the justice of God, without tempering 
that attribute with mercy and forbearance, or who 
dwells upon the eternity and immensity of Jehovah, 
without giving to his tenderness, pity, and compassion 
that prominence which is their due, is not, and can 
not be, an intelligent Christian. So with him who 
looks only at any one or two of his many perfections, 
without taking into the account the tvhole. This is 
to rob God, and as a necessary consequence, to build 
ourselves up in a defective Christianity. This is 
alike dishonoring to our Creator, and injurious to 
ourselves. 

It is easy to find in the origin of errors in religion 
many illustrations of the fact now stated. The great 
fallacy of those infidels who reject a Divine revela- 
tion, may be traced directly to their false and 
unfounded conceptions of God's attributes. They 



282 



HEA VENL T LIGHT 



say that God's perfections exalt him so far above all 
created beings, that he can not condescend to hold 
intercourse with man. Now if these persons would 
study the perfections of Jehovah in the light of both 
reason and revelation, they would clearly see that 
liowever exalted, God is yet a being of infinite com- 
passion, and that his pity, and love, and mercy, have 
constrained him — if we may use the expression — 
to make a revelation of his will to his intelligent 
creatures in a matter so important as their future 
and eternal destiny. It is true — yes, it is a great 
and blessed truth, and one never to be forgotten — 
that God is a being of infinite dignity. This should 
be known and appreciated, and insisted upon, even 
more than it is ; but a knowledge of this should 
not hinder a hearty recognition of that other fact, 
that he is also full of tenderness and love. If infidels 
had but the comprehensive conception of the Divine 
nature to which the Psalmist had attained, when he 
exclaimed, " Though the Lord be high, yet hath he 
respect unto the lowly," their infidelity would 
vanish. They would see how, out of compassion 
for the lowly and dependent objects of his creative 
power, he could, in entire consistency with his dig- 
nity and glory, make to them a revelation of his 
will. 

So, too, the stupendous error of Universalism, 
which is lulling so many thousands into false secu- 
rity, crying, " peace ! peace ! when there is no peace," 
has its fountain-head either in an utter rejection, or a 
partial recognition, of some of the essential perfec- 






FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 283 

tions of the Divine nature. The reader will no 
doubt see, before we have finished these pages, that 
strict, unbending, retributive justice ; absolute, infinite, 
and unwavering equity / are as truly essential charac- 
teristics of a Divine being, and are as clearly ascribed 
to God in Scripture, as are any other of his perfec- 
tions. Yet it is well known that the whole faith of 
Universalisrn is built up, either upon a denial of the 
existence, in any proper sense, of these attributes in 
the Divine character, or such a toning down, and 
modification of their exercise, as to leave them iaop- 
erative. The great and fatal error of these persons 
would, however, at once give way, if, without preju- 
dice, they should heartily receive that comprehensive 
delineation of his nature as drawn by the Almighty 
himself, and recorded in Exodus xxxiv. 6, 7 : " The 
Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and 
abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for 
thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, 
and that will by no means clear the guilty • visiting 
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon 
the children's children unto the third and to the fourth 
generation" How much wiser men, in this day, 
affect to be, than God himself, when, in their pre- 
sumption and folly, they assign to him, or withhold 
from him, this or that attribute, at pleasure ! What 
wonder that, as " blind leaders of the blind," they 
themselves plunge, and drag their followers after 
them, into the ditch of irretrievable ruin ? 

4. It is, however, not only necessary to an intel- 
ligent reception of the system of doctrine taught in 



284 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

Scripture, that we have clear and comprehensive 
views of the Divine perfections, but this is also essen- 
tial to the proper development of the graces of the 
Christian character in individual souls. If a parent 
had a son, in whom he wished to develop the power 
of music to the highest degree, he would show his 
wisdom by setting before him the compositions of 
the best masters, bringing him into contact with the 
best teachers, and giving him the privilege of hearing 
the most skillful performers of the times. He could, 
thus, not only see the perfection to which others 
have attained, but he could detect, in comparison 
with their attainments, his own defects, and be the 
better prepared to apply the proper remedy. So, if 
one should wish to make his son a sculptor, he would 
require him to study the best models within his 
reach. He would send him to Italy, the home of 
the arts. He would obtain for him admission to the 
studios of the best masters. He would set him down 
before the most perfect statues. He would not allow 
him to vitiate his taste by the contemplation of 
defective works of art. All that is nearest to nature, 
and to nature in her highest, best creations ; all, 
indeed, that is nearest to perfection, he would place 
before him ; for it is thus that the inventive power 
and genius within him would be developed. And 
then he would not be called a finished sculptor, a 
master of bis noble art, when he had merely acquired 
the power of producing a creditable head, or bust, or 
arm. No ; he would be the master only when he 
had so studied every part as to produce all skillfully, 






FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 285 

and so as to make one part harmonize with all the 
rest. He would be but a bungler, who to the bust of 
a Venus de Medici should add the dwarfed body and 
distorted limbs of a Richard Third ; or who should 
crown the matchless form of a Hebe with the dis- 
gusting head of a Medusa. 

The same is true, also, of painting. To be a mas- 
ter, one must have long and patient contact with the 
best productions of the most skillful artists. The 
whole science of sketching, grouping, shading, per- 
spective, blending of colors, a/rrangement of objects 
and figures, and, above all, the hoyrmonious adapta- 
tion of one part to another, must be secured ; in 
short, one must have the ivell-sMlled eye, the well- 
trained hand, and the thoroughly-informed judgment, 
all produced as the result of long and patient study 
and practice, before the best models, and with the best 
masters, to claim a high position in this profession. 
A distinguished painter, it is said, would never allow 
his eye to rest upon a defective picture, or the pro- 
duction of a mere tyro in the art, lest, as he observed, 
that keen appreciation of the truly beautiful, which 
was the product within him of long years of patient 
culture, should be in the faintest degree blunted or 
obscured. He would not willingly look, even for an 
instant, upon any but the highest and best expres- 
sions of genius, lest his skill should lose something 
of its hard-earned acquisitions. 

The application of these illustrations to the sub- 
ject under discussion, can not be difficult. It should 
be the aim of every human being, to build up within 



286 



HE A VENL r LIGHT 



him the noblest character possible. This, however, 
can only be done by a careful and long -continued and 
patient study of the best and highest developments 
of being. Something, it is true, can be done in this 
direction, by placing before us the virtues of great 
and good men, by contemplating their excellences, 
and reaching out after their attainments. But after 
all, these are but men. Thei/r attainments are imma- 
ture ; and in them, we have before us only imperfect 
and defective models. Though we should attain to 
their standard, we would yet fall far short of that 
after which it is our glory and our privilege to reach. 
In comparing ourselves with the best of men, we are 
only subjecting ourselves to the condemnation of the 
Apostle : " For we dare not make ourselves of the 
number, or compare ourselves with some that com- 
mend themselves ; but they, measuring themselves by 
themselves, and comparing themselves among them- 
selves, are not wiser This being true, God has given 
us, in his own nature, the grandest, purest, noblest 
study — the best and highest model for our continued 
contemplation. Pope, England's accomplished poet, 
has left upon record the oft-quoted line — 

" The proper study of mankind is man." 

This declaration is not only false, but pernicious. 
We amend that motto, by asserting the more Scrip- 
twal and more reasonable sentiment, " The proper 
study of mankind is" — God ; God, in all the match- 
less perfections of his infinitely pure and holy nature. 
The difference between the study of man and the 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 287 

study of God, lies in this : that in the one case we 
Lave before us a distorted, dwarfed, and disfigured 
model ; while in the other we have a model perfect 
in every respect, and in the contemplation of which 
we are lifted above ourselves, above humanity, and 
carried into an atmosphere purer than any we can 
breathe in contact with our fellow worms. 

5. But then, this study of the character of God, 
in order to secure the highest possible results in our 
souls, must he the study of his perfections in detail. 
It is not the occasional thought of God as a mere 
existence, that produces the effect upon us which we 
should long for. Sighs after conformity to God, 
however sincere, oft-repeated, or long-continued, will 
not effect the result after which we aim. We must 
study his attributes carefully and long. We must 
dwell upon them in detail. In the earnest and per- 
sistent contemplation of his omnipotence, will we dis- 
cover our own nothingness, weakness, and imbecility, 
as we can in no other way. In the study of his eter- 
nity, immensity, and unspeakable glory, as the first 
cause of all things, the only self-existent being, will 
our souls be filled with a holy awe ; and that pro- 
found reverence be begotten and cherished within us, 
which is the foundation of an intelligent and life-long 
devotion. In the contemplation of his omniscience 
and omnipresence, those two attributes which bring 
us so near both to the eye and mind of God — one 
revealing the fact that he always knows all things, 
and the other that he always sees all things — how are 
a holy fear and a righteous dread cherished within. 



288 



HE A VENL r LIGHT 



lest that all-seeing eye should behold evil in us, and 
that all-knowing mind condemn us for the guilt of 
which we are ourselves conscious. And thus we 
might go forward and designate similar results from 
the careful study of the other attributes of Deity — 
his love, his wisdom, his goodness, his mercy, his jus- 
tice, and his truth. Each, of itself, in its perfection 
and glory, is a study ; and in the contemplation of 
each, some grace within us is expanded and invig- 
orated. Every attribute of Deity thus becomes a 
lever, as it were, lifting us up from the depths of 
selfishness and depravity, into nearness to God, 
and fellowship with his Son. We can not study 
carefully, and day by day, the mercy, love, wisdom, 
goodness, justice and truth of Grod, without longing 
to be made more like him in these attributes ; and 
this longing, once begotten, will lead to the diligent 
use of the means necessary to secure the desired end. 
A great cry will go up from our souls to the Infinite 
One for strength and guidance ; that cry will be 
heard and answered, and a work will be begun in us 
by the Holy Spirit, which will never cease until we 
are presented, faultless, before the eternal throne, 
with exceeding joy. Thus it is, that by a study of 
the attributes of Deity, " we are changed into the 
same image, from glory to glory." 

6. It is proper to add, before closing this introduc- 
tory chapter upou the attributes, that when toe shall 
speak of a Divine perfection, we wish it to be under- 
stood that it belongs alike to each person of the God- 
head. The attributes are common to Father, Son, 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 289 

and Holy Ghost. But while this is true, we must 
never forget that we have, in Christ, a manifestation 
of the Divine perfections, in actual exercise. He is 
"God manifest in the flesh." He is " the brightness 
of the Father's glory, and the express image of his 
person." The Divine attributes are, in him, brought 
nigh for daily and familiar contemplation. He reveals 
the Godhead to us, in all the grand and glorious 
excellences of the Divine nature. Christ having 
come, our belief in the existence of these glorious 
perfections is not based alone upon a verbal revela- 
tion. We see them actualized, vitalized, and famil- 
iarized, in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. 

And now, in conclusion, let us remind the reader, 
that the reason why God, both in Scripture and in 
the life of Christ, has exhibited his perfections and 
revealed his attributes, is that his glory might be 
promoted in the salvation from sin and death of those 
who, through eternal ages, might proclaim his praise. 
"Will you, reader, be among that number ? Will it 
redound to your eternal blessedness, that God has 
revealed himself as a God " infinite, eternal and 
unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, 
justice, goodness and truth ?" 

Remember that if you turn io God, all his glo- 
rious attributes will be exercised in promoting your 
happiness, here and hereafter. What a thought! 
Worm that you are — impure, sinful, depraved and 
degraded, lost and ruined — if only you turn your 
back upon your sins, and look to God in Christ, he 
will become at once your friend, and all his glorious 
19 



29O HEA VENL T LIGHT, 

attributes will be arrayed upon your side. Does it 
appear to you that this is a blessedness too great for 
one so vile? Is it almost incredible to you, that 
such a boon should be yours ? Consider such lan- 
guage as this : " Fear thou not, for I am with thee ; 
be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen 
thee — yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand 
of my righteousness. Behold, all that are incensed 
against thee shall be ashamed and confounded ; they 
shall be as nothing, and they that strive with thee 
shall perish. Thou shalt seek them and shalt not 
find them, even them which contended with thee. 
They that war against thee shall be as nothing, and 
as a thing of nought. For I, the Lord thy God, will 
hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not, I 
will help thee. Fear not thou worm Jacob, and ye 
men of Israel ; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and 
thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." No lan- 
guage can be more explicit, none more encouraging 
than this. The moment a soul turns to God in 
Christ, tba£ moment the Almighty God becomes its 
shield, its defense, its buckler. God becomes " a 
wall of fire " round about the sinner the instant he 
looks to him by the eye of faith. He stands, from 
that time, not in his own strength, but in the power 
of the Omnipotent / and Paul could with truth affirm, 
"All things work together for good to them that 
love God ; to them who are the called according to 
his purpose." 

On the other hand, it is equally true, that against 
him who rejects the mercy of God, every Divine 






FOR EAR THE T FIRESIDES. 2 9 1 

attribute stands arrayed. His omnipotence is con- 
cerned, not to save, but to destroy the sinner who 
scorns his love. His justice stands an impassable 
barrier in the way of the justification of him who 
will not believe in Jesus. Yes ; and even the mercy 
of God will at length cease to plead the cause of the 
rebel, and will heartily approve his rejection from 
the realms of bliss. 

Reader ! where standest thou \ Are the attributes 
of God arrayed against thee ? Turn ; turn at 

ONCE, AND FIND MERCY ERE IT BE TOO LATE. 

" Fly, O fly ye to the mountain ; 
Linger not in all the plain; 
Leave this Sodom of corruption ; 
Turn not — look not back again ; 

Fly to Jesus ; 
Linger not in all the plain." 



I 






CHAPTER XVII. 



" Stupendous Architect! Thou, thou art all! 
My soul flies up and down in thoughts of thee, 
And finds herself but at the center still ! 
' I am' thy name ! Existence all thine own ! 
Creation's nothing; flattered much if styled 
' The thin and fleeting atmosphere of God.'" — Young. 



"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is 
unsearchable." — Psalms civ. 8. 



When the question is asked, in the book of Job, 
" Canst thou by searching find out God ; canst 
thou find out the Almighty to perfection ?" we 
are, of course, compelled to answer unqualifiedly 
in the negative. We can not " find out the 
Almighty to perfection." He is infinite, and we are 
finite, and the finite can not comprehend the infinite. 
Nor is it our purpose in these chapters to undertake 
a task acknowledged to be hopeless. To a certain 
extent, however, it is our privilege to know God. 
Our finite capacities may attain to, and hold a moiety 
of his infinity ; and our purpose will be secured if, 
in these pages, we aid the reader in obtaining a 
better conception of One, the fullness of whose wis- 



294 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



dom is unsearchable, and " whose ways are past 
finding out." 

In the last chapter, we presented a few thoughts 
upon the importance of securing as clear and com- 
prehensive a view as possible of the Divine attri- 
butes. We there saw that infidelity, in nearly all its 
forms ; that, indeed, every system of theological 
error might be traced directly to defective or per- 
verted views of the Divine perfections. We also saw 
that all satisfactory progress in the Divine life, all 
growth in grace, and consequent acceptable fulfill- 
ment of religious duty, depend upon the extent of 
our acquaintance with, and appreciation of, the at- 
tributes of that Being to whose image it is the aim 
of all true Christians to be more and more conformed. 
The nature of this inquiry into the attributes of God, 
then, is not theoretical, but intensely practical. It 
lies, as a great practical agency, at the very founda- 
tion of our spiritual advancement. 

Before we ask your attention to a consideration 
of the nature of any of the Divine perfections, it is 
important that we should inquire, 

1. What are the Attributes of God ? And, 

2. HOW MAT THEY BE CLASSIFIED ? 

To answer these two questions will be our object 
in this chapter ; and when we have answered them, 
we will have gone far in preparing the way for our 
subsequent investigations. 

1. The first question, then, which we are to 
consider, is, 

What are the attributes of God ? Of course, 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 295 

among those who take the Scriptures for their 
guide, there can be no hesitation as to the manner in 
which this question is to be answered. Those, and 
those only, are the attributes of God, which the Scrip- 
tures reveal as such ; and no attribute is to be denied 
to God which the Scriptures claim to be his. Let this 
be our rule, and we will find no difficulty attaching 
to this part of our investigations. Our task will be 
simply to inquire " what attributes are ascribed to 
God in his Holy Word?" These — whether men 
like them or not — belong to him, and must be con- 
ceded to be his. 

Those who have most carefully examined Scrip- 
ture to ascertain its teachings upon this point, are 
very generally agreed, that while the Divine perfec- 
tions are therein set forth under an almost endless 
variety of names and titles, that they may all be 
included under nine or ten specific heads. Thus the 
Scriptures represent God as possessed of omnipo- 
tence ; omniscience ; omnipresence ; immensity ; im- 
mutability ; wisdom ; justice ; goodness ; truth ; and 
holiness. To this, some add love, as an attribute not 
included under the general designation, " goodness ;" 
and others add infinity as a necessary adjunct of all 
the other perfections. Dr. John Dick, one of the 
clearest writers upon theology of modern times, 
makes nine Divine attributes, as follows : immensity ; 
immutability ; knowledge ; wisdom ; power ; good- 
ness ; justice ; truth ; and holiness. Here, what 
some call omnipotence, he calls power ; what some 
characterize as omniscience, he designates as know- 



2g6 HEA VENL Y LIGHT 

ledge. He regards omnipresence as embraced in 
immensity ; and instead of making a separate attri- 
bute of " love," he includes it under the more general 
attribute of " goodness." This enumeration, then, 
does not differ materially from the one first given. 

2. The Westminster Divines, in framing that 
admirable compend, known as the shorter catechism, 
answered the great question, " What is God ?" in the 
following language : " God is a Spirit, infinite, 
eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, 
power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." Here 
they first state that God, as to his essence, is a spirit, 
and then enumerate nine attributes or perfections of 
this Spiritual Being : namely, infinity, eternity, 
unchangeableness, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, 
goodness, and truth. This designation is substan- 
tially the same as those we have already given, except 
that no distinction is made between immensity and 
infinity ; the knowledge of God being included in his 
wisdom, and love being embraced in goodness. It 
will also be seen that this language of the catechism 
makes infinity, eternity, and unchangeableness to 
characterize not only God himself, but also all 
the attributes of the Godhead. Thus God is not 
only infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his 
very nature, but he is infinitely, eternally, and 
unchangeably wise, powerful, just, holy, good, and 
true. It is thus not only affirmed of God himself, 
that eternity, infinity, and unchangeableness are 
perfections of his being, but that these are also per- 
fections of his other perfections — a distinction we 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 297 

will have occasion to notice when we come to speak 
of the classification of the Divine attributes. 

3. The distinguished Dr. Timothy Dwight, one of 
the most profound of American theologians, in his 
" Systematic Theology," sums up the Divine perfec- 
tions under ten distinct heads, as follows : Eternity, 
immutability, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipres- 
ence, benevolence, justice, truth, mercy, and wisdom. 
Here immensity is included in omnipresence ; know- 
ledge in omniscience ; love and goodness are em- 
braced in benevolence ; while mercy is made a distinct 
attribute, and wisdom is properly distinguished from 
omniscience. It will be perceived that Dr. Dwight 
makes no mention of either infinity or holiness, 
regarding the first, probably, as not a separate 
attribute of Deity ; and the latter, like some other 
distinguished theologians, as the " consummate glory 
of all the other attributes in union." (" Hodge's 
Outlines.") 

4. Rev. Stephen Charnock, B.D., in his " Dis- 
courses upon the Existence and Attributes of God " 
— a work which, though too elaborate for popular 
reading, has ever been regarded by the learned as a 
perfect storehouse of knowledge upon the subjects 
treated — -has summed up the Divine perfections 
under eleven heads : namely, spirituality, eternity, 
immutability, omnipresence, knowledge, wisdom, 
power, holiness, goodness, dominion, and patience. 
In this enumeration, it will be seen that Charnock 
makes no mention of truth and justice as distinct 
attributes of Deity, as they are both, in his estima- 



298 



HEA VENL T LIGHT 



tion, necessary to God's holiness, and hence included 
in it. He adds, however, the two perfections, 
dominion and patience, differing in this from most 
other writers, who consider dominion, or the exercise 
of sovereign authority, nothing more than a remit, 
or consequent of the possession of his other perfec- 
tions. The argument is this : If God be eternal, 
immutable, omnipresent, of infinite knowledge, wis- 
dom, power, holiness, and goodness, he must be the 
sovereign God, and can but exercise supreme domin- 
ion over all created objects. Dominion, then, is not 
denied to God by any, but is not, with Charnock, 
regarded as a distinct attribute. So, too, patience is 
conceded to God by all, but by most is considered 
simply as one manifestation of goodness. God''s 
goodness being infinite, patience or long-suffering is 
a necessary result. This, then, is rather a mode in 
which goodness is displayed, than a separate perfec- 
tion of the Divine nature. 

5. The Rev. William Cooke, D.D., in his elaborate 
work, " The Deity," being the second edition of his 
" Theiotes," enumerates the attributes of God as fol- 
lows : spirituality, eternity, independence, immuta- 
bility, omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience ; 
and then adds, that God is infinite in wisdom, of 
boundless benevolence, of perfect holiness, and pos- 
sessed of a disposition for communion with the intel- 
ligent creatures of his creation. By this enumera- 
tion, truth or veracity, and justice or righteous- 
ness, are included in holiness; while goodness and 
love are embraced in benevolence. Dr. Cooke 



FOR EARTHL T FIRESIDES. 299 

makes God's disposition for communion with bis 
intelligent creatures, a distinct attribute ; while other 
writers recognize this property of the Divine mind, 
as the handmaid, merely, of his goodness. His 
goodness prompts him to seek the highest good of 
his creatures ; and this can only be effected through 
communion with God — the source of all blessings, 
temporal and spiritual. 

6. And thus we might go forward, almost without 
limit, presenting the various lists of Divine perfec- 
tions, as given, at different times, by the various 
writers upon the subject, and as embodied in the 
creeds of the various churches. Nor need we, in 
this, be confined to modern writers, or to any partic- 
ular church. There has been a remarkable agreement 
between the ancients and the moderns in this matter. 
The fathers, as they are called — those learned men 
w r ho were the pioneers in the domain of religious 
investigation, immediately after the apostolic days, 
and down for hundreds of years thereafter — held 
substantially the same views touching the Divine 
attributes which are generally entertained to-day. 
So has it been with the churches. The Papal, the 
Greek, and the Protestant communions, though 
differing greatly in many particulars ; though main- 
taining a diametrically opposite belief upon some of 
the most vital features of religion, have yet expressed 
themselves with a marked harmony upon the Divine 
perfections. The attributes have ever been regarded, 
both in ancient and in modern times, as reducible to 
the nine or ten of which we have made mention. So 



3 °0 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

that there has been here really little controversy. 
Some have called these perfections by one name, and 
some by another / and some have thought that one 
attribute embraced some other, as in the case of Dr. 
Dick, who, in the goodness of God, sees his love also ; 
or, as in the case of Dr. Dwight, who, in omnipres- 
ence includes immensity, and in omniscience embraces 
what others designate as the Divine knowledge. But 
all these differences are slight and unimportant, as 
will be readily perceived, and are lost sight of in the 
substantial agreement which prevails among all these 
writers. Having the same source of information 
from which to draw — the infallible Word — they 
have all been brought to substantially the same 
conclusion. 

7. Perhaps, now, the inquiry will arise, " How 
are the Divine attributes to be characterized in these 
pages f" We reply, that the language of the West- 
minster Shorter Catechism will be adopted with a 
single amendment. It seems clear that "knowledge" 
is an attribute properly distinguishable from " wis- 
dom" Knowledge is the simple apprehension of 
things as they are ; as the eye perceives the objects 
presented to it. Wisdom is the arrangement of our 
ideas in proper order, and in such a train as to pro- 
duce some useful, practical result. Mere knowledge is 
not wisdom, for the best informed are not always the 
wisest. We therefore choose, in this discussion, to 
consider the Divine perfections under ten heads. We 
shall consider God as possessed of infinity, eternity, 
unchangeableness, knowledge, wisdom, power, holi- 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 3 O I 

ness, justice, goodness, and truth. In this enumera- 
tion, holiness is considered as a distinct attribute, and 
love and mercy are included in goodness. 

Having now seen what the Divine perfections a/re, 
let us consider, 

II. HOW THEY MAY BE CLASSIFIED. 

And here, too, different theological writers have 
pursued different methods. 

1. Some have called certain attributes negative, 
and others they have characterized as positive. The 
negative, are those perfections of the Divine nature 
by which God is distinguished from all imperfect 
beings. Under this head, of course, would fall his 
eternal self-existence ; his infinity, and his immuta- 
bility. The positive attributes, are those which, 
though in God and of him, are yet in some measure 
in his intelligent creatures likewise. This classifica- 
tion, however, is unfortunate, owing to the fact that 
we may be misled by the terms negative and positive, 
and hence is now but little used. 

2. Another classification is into absolute and rela- 
tive. The absolute perfections, it is claimed, are 
those which belong to the essence of God ; in other 
words, those which are his by virtue of his exist- 
ence. The relative are those which have reference to 
the existence of others. This classification is also 
faulty ; for all the attributes, as we believe, are of 
the essence of God ; hence all may be termed absolute. 

3. Another division, is into the natural and moral 
perfections. The natural attributes, according to 
this classification, are those which pertain to God 



3° 2 HEA VENL T LIGHT. 

as an infinite, rational Spirit, such as eternity, know- 
ledge, power, and wisdom. The mwal are those 
additional attributes which belong to him, as an 
infinite, righteous spirit, such as justice, goodness, and 
truth. This classification, while less objectionable 
than those before mentioned, is subject to this diffi- 
culty: that the term " natural" as distinguished from 
"moral" is liable to mislead. Are not all God's 
attributes natural? Do they not all belong to him 
as an infinite, rational spirit ? 

4. Another division still, is into communicable and 
incommunicable attributes. The first, designating 
those perfections which are found in intelligent crea- 
tures in some faint measure, some slight degree — such 
as knowledge, wisdom, goodness, and truth. The 
incommunicable are those never found in the creature, 
and which, from their very nature, can not be im- 
parted to him — such as infinity and eternity. The 
difficulty with this division is, that all God's attri- 
butes are infinite, and to say that an infinite attribute 
is communicable in a finite degree, seems a contra- 
diction in terms. Not one of God's attributes, as it 
exists in him, is communicable. It will be perceived, 
from what has now been said, how difficult it is to 
obtain clear definitions in a matter so much above 
us. We see, in all this, the greatness of the questions 
of which we treat. There are, however, two classi- 
fications, which are clear, simple, and intelligible, 
either of which we may adopt without difficulty or 
confusion : 

1. We distinguish between those attributes of 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 3 03 

which we can predicate moral properties, and those 
of which we can not. Holiness, justice, goodness, 
and truth — four out of the ten — have clearly 
moral properties. Infinity, eternity, unchangeable- 
ness, knowledge, wisdom, and power — the remaining 
six — can not be said to have moral qualities. This 
classification has this advantage : that it is easily 
remembered, from its analogy to the division of the 
decalogue. The commands being ten, the first four 
contain our duties to God, and the last six our duties 
to man. Then, 

2. The other classification, which we think equally 
clear, is a division of the perfections into those which 
appear to be attributes of other attributes, and those 
which have not this character. Three of the Divine 
perfections are evidently attributes of seven others. 
These are infinity, eternity, and unchangeableness. 
Now, the Divine knowledge, wisdom, power, holiness, 
justice, goodness, and truth, are each infinite, eternal, 
and unchangeable. Hence, these last three named, 
are not only glorious perfections of Deity, but they 
are attributes of all the other attributes of the Divine 
natw'e. This is a clear distinction, affording us, as 
it would appear, an easy classification, and one readily 
remembered. 

We have now seen how the two questions, " What 
are the Divine attributes V and "How may they be 
classified?' 1 '' can be answered. To the reader who is 
in search of the highest of all knowledge, the most 
useful of all instruction, this discussion will not be in 
vain. Such investigations, of course, require some 



3 04 HE A VENL Y LIGHT, E TC. 

tli ought. If it is impossible for man to gain a know- 
ledge of any earthly science without study, much 
more is it true of the most sublime of all sciences — 
the knowledge of God. 

And let the reader remember that he has here 
entered upon that course of instruction which is to 
go forward during eternal ages. To know God more 
and more, to investigate his character, to reach out 
after a comprehensive knowledge of his nature and 
glory, will be the delightful employment of the 
redeemed forever. This is what those now in heaven 
are doing. This is their employment. They have 
passed into the higher departments of that school 
which we have entered as beginners. This is bat a 
graded school. We are in the lower ; the redeemed 
in glory are in the more advanced divisions. 

The thought, however, which should, above all, 
encourage us in these investigations, is tliat while ive 
are in Christ's school, we have Christ as our teaoher. 
The perfections of which, we have spoken in this 
chapter, are the perfections of our glorious instruc- 
tor. His infinite knowledge, and wisdom, and truth, 
are sufficient for all our darkness, and ignorance, and 
error. Let us draw freely upon him, then, for his 
fullness can never be exhausted. 

To the impenitent reader, we would address the 
words of this glorious instructor : " Come unto me 
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, 
for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find 
rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my 
burden is light." Will you come — and come now ? 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



" I asked myself what this great God might be 
That fashioned me ? 
I answered — 'The all-potent, solely immense, 

Surpassing sense ; 
Unspeakable, inscrutable, eternal, 

Lord over all. 
The only terrible, strong, just and true, 
Who hath no end, and no beginning knew.'" 

Heywood. 

"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting 
arms." — Deut. xxxiii. 27. 



It was shown in the last., chapter, that the Divine 
perfections, as set forth in Scripture, may be included 
under ten distinct heads : namely, infinity, eternity, 
and unchangeableness, hnoivledge, wisdom, 'power, holi- 
ness, justice, goodness, and truth. It was shown, also, 
that these ten attributes may be readily classified 
under two divisions : namely, those of which we can 
predicate moral properties, being four — holiness, 
justice, goodness, and truth — and those in which 
moral properties appear to be wanting : namely, six 
— infinity, eternity, unchangeableness, knowledge, wis- 
dom, and power. Or we may, if we choose, divide 
them into those which do, and those which do not, 



30 



3 °6 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

modify other attributes. Thus, these three : namely, 
infinity, eternity, and unehanyeableness, while in 
themselves glorious attributes of Deity, are also 
attributes of the other seven perfections of the Divine 
nature. Either of these classifications may be used 
to fix clearly defined views upon this great subject in 
the memory of the Bible student. 

Having thus taken a general survey of the field of 
our investigations, we are now to draw nearer and 
take a somewhat closer view of each of these won- 
derful properties of Deity. And when the reader is 
reminded that these are the highest themes to which 
the thought of men or of angels can be directed, he 
will not be surprised to find himself invited to the 
most serious and. prayerful study of the subject. He 
is now to contemplate God in the several properties 
of his incomprehensible nature. The finite mind is 
to go out in an effort to grasp something of the 
Creator's infinity. What a grand endeavor ! "What 
a glorious effort ! The highest archangel which 
stands before the throne can be engaged in no more 
elevating employment. What an honor, what a 
blessing, that sinful worms of the dust are permitted 
this high and holy privilege. Let us enter upon this 
study with the most earnest prayers for the Spirit's 
guidance ; with a sincere desire to know all we can 
know of that glorious Being who is King of kings, 
and Lord of lords. 

I. The first attribute we are to consider, is 

INFINITY. 

And we inquire, 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 3 O 7 

1. What are we to understand by the infinity of 
God? And, 

2. Does Scripture ascribe this perfection to Jeho- 
vah? 

An attempt to answer these two questions will 
bring this part of our subject fully before the mind. 

To the question, " What are we to understand by 
the infinity of God?" we may answer, that we 
express by that word the great truth that God is 

WITHOUT BOUNDS Or LIMITATIONS IN HIS ESSENCE AND 

perfections. As to his essence, God is a Spirit ; 
and when we affirm infinity of him, we affirm that 
this Spirit is in its very nature boundless. So too, 
with all his perfections: his knowledge, wisdom, 
power, holiness, justice, goodness, and tmdh. They 
are, each of them, without bounds or limits. They 
can not be measured. No man nor angel has ever 
measured — no man nor angel can ever measure the 
infinity of God. It is an absolute infinity. To a 
child, the wisdom, and knowledge, and power, of a 
parent or teacher, may appear infinite. This, how- 
ever, is due to the incapacity of the child ; to the 
immaturity of his powers. Not so with God. His 
infinity is absolute. Even surveyed by an infinite 
being, he would still be seen to be infinite. 

The better to grasp this great thought, let it be 
considered, that under the general designation of 
" infinity" may be included what we know : 

1st. As God's incomprehensibility. 2nd. His im- 
mensity. And 3rd. His omnipresence. 

As God is infinite, he must, of course, be incom- 



3 °8 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

preliensible to men or angels, and must forever so 
remain. Though our capacities are capable of endless 
expansion, and though the powers of angelic beings 
are susceptible of limitless growth, and though eter- 
nity itself be given in which to expand, yet neither 
the powers of men nor angels, will ever reach such 
a state that they can fully comprehend Jehovah. 

Immensity, too, is included under this term infin- 
ity. By immensity, we mean tliat property of Deity 
which renders 7dm infinite in regard to space. He 
fills all space. He is every where. He exists in all 
parts and places of the universe, whether they are 
inhabited or not. Where there are no worlds, no 
created objects or beings, as well as where there 
are, God is, and by virtue of his immensity, must 
forever be. 

The omnipresence of God differs from his immen- 
sity, inasmuch as it contemplates the existence of 
other beings. God, as immense, is, by a necessity of 
his being, every where ; as omnipresent, he is wherever 
other beings and objects are. Immensity belongs to 
the essence of God • omnipresence has special refer- 
ence to the works of his hand. God would have 
been possessed of immensity, though there had been 
no creation ; he is said to be omnipresent now that 
there are objects aside from himself, with which he 
can be found. 

Without detaining the reader upon what may be 
regarded as the mere definitions of a great subject, 
let it be observed that we here gain a glimpse of 
what must forever remain a most wonderful study to 



FOR EARTH L T FIRESIDES. 3 09 

the highest intelligences. God's infinity extends to 
his essence, to his relations to his creatures, to space, 
and to all his perfections. Wonderful being ! Ab- 
solutely without bouuds, or limits ! Who can but 
exclaim, in the language of Scripture, " Such know- 
ledge is too wonderful for me ; it is high, I can not 
attain unto it." 

2. And now, is this teaching in accordance with 
Scripture f Is the doctrine of God's infinity based 
npon Divine revelation ? We answer this question 
in the affirmative. Take the declaration of Solomon, 
at the dedication of the first temple, as recorded in 
1 Kings viii. 27 : " But will God, indeed, dwell 
upon the earth ? Behold, the heaven of heavens can 
not contain thee ; how much less this house that I 
have builded !" 

In Psalm exxxix. 7-12, we have that remarkable 
and oft-quoted declaration of the Psalmist, speaking 
under Divine direction, " Whither shall I go from 
thy Spirit, and whither shall I flee from thy pres- 
ence ? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there ; 
if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there ; if 
I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the 
uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand 
lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." 

So, too, God, declaring that it is impossible for the 
wicked to escape from him, causes the prophet Amos 
to utter the following words : " Though they dig 
into hell, thence shall mine hand take them ; though 
they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them 
down." 



3 l ° HE A VENL T LIGHT 

Many other passages might be cited, directly 
asserting, or clearly implying, the infinity of God. 
Let these, however, suffice. They teach distinctly 
that God is every where, in every part of his vast 
dominions, and that, as an Infinite Being he is with- 
out bounds or limitations in all his glorious perfec- 
tions. This, then, is God's infinity. It is in vain to 
think to fathom it. We can only look, and wonder, 
and adore. 

II. The second Divine attribute in the order we 
have chosen to follow, is 

ETERNITY. 

By this term is designated, not only the fact that 
God is without beginning, but also that he is without 
end, or succession of days. As immensity is a view 
of God in relation to space, so eternity is a view of 
God in relation to time. Properly speaking, there is 
no such thing as time, or duration, with God : "A 
thousand years," says the Psalmist, " are in thy sight 
but as yesterday, when it is past." And Peter 
declares that " One day is with the Lord as a 
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." 
He knows no such successive periods as we mark 
by days, and weeks, and months, and years. The 
eternity past, as well as the eternity to come, are 
alike present with him. Indeed, he knows no past, 
no future. As some one has expressed it, there is, 
with God, " but one ete?mal noioP 

Of course this is a great mystery, and like the 
infinity of God, incomprehensible. We can only take, 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. Z 11 

in this, what the Scriptures declare : " Before the 
mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst 
formed the earth and the world, evenfro?n everlasting 
to everlasting, thou art God." (Psalms xc. 2.) We 
must receive, as eminently applicable, that title 
given to Jehovah in Scripture — " the eternal God." 
"We must believe as true what God claims, when he 
says, " I am the first, and I am the last, and beside 
me there is no God." We must believe that Habak- 
kuk asks no idle question when he inquires, "Art 
thou not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, mine 
Holy One ? " And when Moses says to the chil- 
dren of Israel, " The eternal God is thy refuge, 
and underneath are the everlasting arms," we must 
believe that he speaks not at random ; that he 
utters not words without meaning. So, likewise, 
when Isaiah utters the words, " Thus saith the high 
and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity " (Isaiah lvii. 
15) ; when Jeremiah says, " The Lord is the true 
God, he is the living God, and an everlasting King " 
(Jeremiah x. 10) ; when Micah asserts of God that 
his " goings forth have been of old, from everlast- 
ing " (Micah v. 2) ; when Paul says " unto the King 
Eternal be honor and glory " (1 Timothy i. 17) ; 
and when again he speaks of the " Eternal Spirit " 
(Hebrews ix. 14), we can but accept of such inspired 
declarations, and cause our faith to conform to them. 
Indeed, eternity of existence is absolutely essential 
to the being of the true God. Whatever is not 
eternal must have had a beginning ; and whatever 
has a beginning, must be caused to begin ; that is, 



3 12 HEAVENLY LIGHT 

must be an effect, and an effect is never as great as 
the cause which produces it. Now, if God is not 
eternal, he must have been brought into being ; for 
nothing is self -produced, and if God was 'produced, 
then is he inferior to that which produced him, and 
hence can not be supreme, and of course can not be 
God. 

From this, it will appear that self -existence is a 
necessary concomitant of eternity. God is eternally 
self -existent ; existing from everlasting, he was not 
produced. He is the one only self-existent Jehovah. 
before all, by the necessity of his being ; above all, 
by the infinity of his power ; and beyond all, by the 
ubiquity of his spiritual essence. Wondrous being ! 
Well may angels and archangels veil their faces in 
thy presence, and look upon themselves as less than 
nothing in thy sight ; and well may the whole world 
of created intelligences exclaim : 

" O God, thou bottomless abyss ! 

Thee to perfection who can know? 
O height immense ! what words suffice 
Thy countless attributes to show ! 
Eternity thy fountain was, 
Which, like thee, no beginning knew. 
Thou wast ere time began its race, 
Ere glowed with stars the etherial blue. 
Greatness unspeakable is thine; 
Greatness, whose undiminished ray 
Shall brightly glow when short-lived worlds are lost — 
Shall shine when heaven and earth are fled away." 

III. The next perfection of the Divine natwre 
which we are here to consider, is 

UNCHANGEABLENESS. 




FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 3 1 3 

That this must be an attribute of the true God, 
eveu reason plainly declares ; for, though God were 
infinite and eternal, though he were possessed of 
all the other glorious qualities of an absolutely per- 
fect nature, yet if it were possible for him to change 
— to become to-morrow something different from 
what he is to-day — you will perceive that this fact 
alone would unsettle the whole system, and remove 
every ground of confidence and hope. To be perfect, 
God must not only now be what he is, but he must 
ever so remain. 

This attribute may be defined as that "perfect 
constancy by which God is infinitely free from any 
actual or possible change" and through the pos- 
session of which property all may have the utmost 
assurance that he must ever remain as he now is. 

In his infinity and eternity, God is unchangeable. 
If he is now infinite in his knowledge, wisdom, 
power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, so will 
he ever be the same, in all these glorious perfections. 
"What he says of himself is, and must forever remain, 
most true: "I am the Lord / I change not /" and 
what the Apostle James affirms, is to be accepted 
without the slightest qualification ; he is " the Father 
of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither 
shadow of turning." Not onty is there not the mb- 
stance, or reality, of change in him, but not even the 
faintest resemblance to it ; not the shadow, not the 
slightest approach, toward mutability. Well may 
Job cry, " He is of one mind, and who can turn him ? 
and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth." 



3 X 4 HEAVENLY LIGHT '. 

Moreover, this attribute of the true God is clearly- 
inferable from his absolute perfection. How can 
perfection change f A perfect being will not act 
without a motive ; and the only motive which could 
induce God to change, would be a desire to become 
better than he is. But this is impossible, for he is 
perfect now. Or the argument may be stated thus : 
A change in God must either be for the better or 
for the worse. But he can not be made better, and 
his perfect holiness precludes the possibility of a 
change for the worse. He must, therefore, remain 
forever the same — " glorious in holiness, fearful in 
praises, doing wonders." All beneath him ; all but 
he, may change. Angels may sin and fall ; man 
may become ungrateful — trample upon the law of 
his maker, and cease from happiness ; the sun, the 
moon, the stars, the solid earth itself, yea the 
whole material universe, may undergo ten thousand 
transformations ; may be subject to ten thousand 
changes, and at length crumble back into that 
chaos from which, at first, by the omnipotent fiat of 
Jehovah, they were called ; but amid all — unaffected, 
unmoved, unshaken — the infinite, eternal, and un- 
changeable Jehovah, will remain the sovereign still, 
doing after his will in the armies of heaven, and 
among the inhabitants of the earth, none staying 
his hand, or saying unto him, what doest thou ? 
O what words are these ! infinite ! eternal ! 

UNCHANGEABLE ! 

How little of all that these words really contain, 
can we grasp by repeating them to our ears ! An 



FOR EAR THE T FIRESIDES. 3 1 5 

infinite being ; an eternal being ; an unchange- 
able being ! How little, after all, do we learn of 
God by the declaration that these are among the 
attributes essential to his nature ! 

There are, however, certain solemn, practical 
thoughts, suggested by the contemplation of these 
high and incomprehensible titles. And, 

1. What a rebuke does human pride receive in the 
presence of such a being as this! Where is the 
mortal who dares lift his head with vanity and pride 
in the presence of one so glorious ! There have 
been — there now are — those who indulge this most 
unseemly, most unbecoming passion of the human 
soul. Kings and emperors have put on airs, in the 
presence of their fellow worms, and have succeeded 
in dazzling, for a time, with a false glare, the eyes of 
their infatuated followers and dependents. How 
manifest their folly, in the light of the great themes 
here discussed ! In view of God's infinity, eternity, 
and unchangeableness, of what can a created being 
be proud % Creatures of a day ! frail, dying mor- 
tals ! dependent for every successive breath upon 
Omnipotence, what madness, to indulge in an inor- 
dinate self-esteem ; in conceit ; in vanity ! Humility 
alone becomes us. We should never forget that 

" Heaven's gates are not so highly arched 
As princes' palaces; they that enter there 
Must go upon their knees." 

2. How terrible should this God appear to the 
obdurate sinner f Behold him ! Infinite in his 
knowledge ! Can you conceal your sins from him ? 



3 1 6 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

Infinite in Ms power ! Can you hope to escape his 
grasp ? Unchangeable in his holiness ! Can you 
hope that he will ever look with less abhorrence 
than now upon your depravity ? Unchangeable in 
Ms justice I Can you ever expect him to become 
blind to your violations of his holy law ? Having 
uttered that just and righteous decree, " The wicked 
shall be turned into hell, with all the nations that 
forget God," can you expect him to retract ? No ; 
no. In God there is, there can be no change. If the 
sinner is ever saved, the change must be in him. 
His heart must be renewed by the power of the 
Holy Ghost. He must become a " new creature " in 
Christ ; old things must pass away, and all things 
must become new. He must learn to love what he 
now hates, and to hate what he now lovgs. Christ 
must be formed in him " the hope of glory," and the 
Holy Ghost must make of his regenerated soul an 
abiding resting-place. Then, and not before, will the 
infinite, eternal, and unchangeable One, visit him 
with the consolations of Divine grace, and lavish 
upon him the riches of his exhaustless love. But, 

3. How comforting these views of Deity to those 
who have fled to God in Christ! We can now boast 
(and it is not an idle boast) that every perfection of 
an infinite, eternal, and unchangeable God, is pledged 
for our redemption. Precious, precious thought ! 
"We can now exclaim, " If God be for us, who can be 
against us ?" Every child of God can say, "J/y 
Father is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable ; what 
need I fear ? Is he not able to verify every promise 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 3 1 7 

made in my behalf ? How can Satan harm me, 
with such a God to baffle his infernal machina- 
tions ? What can man accomplish, since I have 
man's Maker, Governor, and Judge, upon my side ?" 
Surely, it was not idle declamation in Paul to ask, 
" Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's 
elect ? It is God that justifieth ; who is he that 
condemneth ?" Christian ! " Be joyful in the Lord," 
for "The ETERNAL God is thy refuge, and 

UNDERNEATH AEE THE EVERLASTING ARMS." 



CHAPTER XIX 



" What our dim eyes could never see, 
Is plain and naked to thy sight; 
What thickest darkness veils, to thee 

Shines clearly as the morning light. 
In light thou dwell'st; light that no shade, 

No variation ever knew. 
Heaven, earth, and hell, stand all displayed, 
And open to thy piercing view." 

From the German, by], Wesley. 



" O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of 
God !" — Romans xi. 33. 



Having considered, in the last chapter, those three 
wonderful properties of the Divine nature — infinity, 
et&i'nity, and wwhangeableness — we come to discuss, 
in this, the 



KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM 



of God : two of his glorious perfections, the consid- 
eration of which can but be of exceeding interest to 
every thoughtful mind. 

Many writers upon the Divine perfections choose 
to treat these two attributes as one — regarding the 
knowledge of God as comprehended in his wisdom. 
This view, as we have seen in a previous chapter, is 



3 20 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

taken by the Westminster Divines — confessedly 
very high authority — and by Dr. D wight and other 
eminent writers upon theology. Notwithstanding 
this opinion, we have no hesitation in taking the 
ground that these two attributes are clearly distinct 
perfections. Knov)ledge is simply an acquaintance 
with facts and existences, and may be termed intelli- 
gence or information ; while vmdorn is that power or 
quality of the mind which enables its possessor to 
make the best possible use of what he knows. A 
person may be distinguished for his information 
upon all subjects, and yet be devoid of true wisdom, 
having no faculty for using his information for the 
promotion of good or useful ends. Indeed, " know- 
ledge is the simple apprehension of things as they are, 
just as the eye perceives the objects presented to it; 
while ivisdom is the arrangement of our ideas in 
proper order, and in such a train as to produce some 
useful, practical result." (Dr. Dick.) No man can be 
truly wise without knowledge ; but we may see every 
day proof upon every hand, that men may have vast 
stores of knowledge, without a particle of wisdom. 
We choose, therefore, to treat as different properties 
of the Divine nature, qualities which are in their 
very essence susceptible of such a marked distinction. 
I. That God is possessed of infinite knoioledge, the 
Scriptures emphatically declare. We are told that 
" his eye is in every place, beholding the evil and 
the good." He is said to be a God " who knoweth 
all things." It is also declared that nothing is 
hidden from him. One sacred writer, addressing 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 3 21 

Jehovah, says, " Yea, the darkness hideth not from 
thee." Before thee, " the night shineth as the day ; 
the darkness and the light are both alike to thee." 

That we may aid the reader in reaching out after 
this wondrous property of the Divine Being, and 
assist him in grasping a .moiety of its greatness, let 
us notice, 

1. That the knowledge of God is intuitive. In 
other words, it is not, like the knowledge of man, 
acquired: God was never a learner. He can not 
know to-day what he did not know yesterday. His 
knowledge, like his power, or justice, or goodness, is 
perfect at every moment of time. To say that God 
can know to-morrow what he does not know to-day, 
is to affirm that he is to-day ignorant of something ; 
and ignorance is not consonant with perfection. All 
the past, all the present, and all the future, is fully 
known to him at every moment of existence. Every 
thing which has been, which is 'now, or which ever 
will be, or which can be, is entirely and presently 
known to this glorious One. 

And this intuitive perception of all things actual 
or possible, is most clearly a necessity of the Divine 
nature. For God not to know, or to cease to know, 
the slightest thing occurring, or to occur, in the 
whole circuit of the ages, or in any part of his vast 
dominions, would be tantamount to. his ceasing to 
rule as the sovereign of the universe. That Armin- 
ian divine, therefore, who, to sustain an argument 
against predestination, asserted that there were cer- 
tain things which God chose not to know, gave 

21 



322 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

utterance to a dogma antagonistic to the very being 
of God. As well can it be said that God chooses not 
to be omnipotent ; not to he perfectly just ; not to be 
absolutely holy, as that he chooses not to have a 
perfect knowledge of all things. It is, then, among 
the distinguishing features of this attribute, that it 
is intuitive and necessary. But, 

2. God's hnowledge comprehends a thorough ac- 
quaintance with the essence of all things. It is 
not like our perceptions, confined to the outward 
properties, or external conditions of things. We 
can only see what is outward. In the lives of men, 
for instance, we can know only what is on the sur- 
face. The secret springs of action, the subtile, internal 
powers, at work far down in the soul, the influences 
molding, controlling, guiding — unknown and unap- 
preciated, it may be, by the man himself — these are 
not open to our perception. We may form shrewd 
conjectures concerning these motive powers ; we 
may judge in some cases correctly, touching the 
springs of human action ; the influences lying back 
of human conduct ; and yet, it is with us, after all, 
only conjecture and speculation. But with God, all 
is open and fully revealed — as plain and clear as 
noonday. " His knowledge," in the language of 
inspiration, " is infinite." Motives, purposes, plans, 
hidden designs, the very germ and essence of all 
things, of all acts, are to him like the open page of a 
plainly written book. To him, nothing is darlc ; 
nothing mysterious ; nothing complicated; nothing 
unintelligible. Every object, not only, but every 



FOR BAR THL Y FIRESIDES. Z 2 7) 

quality of every object, and every thing which can 
belong to it, or which can be said of it ; is plain and 
open,' " before the eyes of him with whom we have 
to do." What a wonderful attribute ! All-compre- 
hending, penetrating, infinite, perfect ! Well might 
the Psalmist exclaim, " Such knowledge is too high 
for me." But, 

3. The knowledge of God comprehends all the 
relations of things to, and their bearings upon each 
other. He knows fully the tendencies of events ; the 
consequences to which they point ; the results which 
they will develop. Of course, therefore, God is 
never, like us, taken by surprise. " He knows the 
end from the beginning ;" knows it wholly, knows it 
fully, in all its bearings and contingencies. He is, 
therefore, never disappointed. However any course 
of conduct may result, to whatever conclusions it 
may lead, they were yet all fully comprehended by 
him. He is, therefore, never left to what we call 
conjecture. He is never in doubt. With him, no 
uncertainty envelops the future. Just hoAv men, and 
communities, and kingdoms, and nations, will act, 
and just what consequences will follow from their 
actions, and just what bearings those acts will have 
upon the destiny of earth — all this is present to the 
infinite perception of this wonderful Being. Aud 
all this is known fully, clearly, perfectly, truly, to 
God, now, not only, but all was known to him, from 
all eternity. There never was a moment in all the 
existence of God, in the past, when all that had been, 
and all that was to be, in their bearings, and rela- 



3 2 4 HEA VENL T LIGHT 

tions, and tendencies, was not fully present before 
him. How do our finite understandings stagger 
under the burden of such an incomprehensible fact ; 
and how fully are we now prepared to respond to the 
inspired declarations : " The Lord is a God of hioiv- 
ledge." " He is greater than our heart, and Jcnoweth 
all things." But, 

4. The knowledge of God embraces a thorough and 
comprehensive acquaintance with all wo?'lds and with 
all conditions of being. This earth, and this life, with 
all that is comprehended in them, are not only fully 
known to him, but etebnity, with all its solemn 
interests, heaven and hell, angels and redeemed 
saints, devils and lost men ; all that is found in 
angelic and satanic minds : the hopes and aspira- 
tions of the one, the schemes and machinations of the 
other ; all that the world of bliss or the world of 
woe contains, lies- open to the all-knowing mind of 
Jehovah. There is no pinnacle in the heavenly 
world so high, no cavern in the regions of despair 
so deep, that God's infinite perception does not reach 
to it, and fully comprehend it. It is not, then, 
human beings, and their affairs alone — however 
numerous and complicated those beings and those 
affairs may be ; it is not the whole history of earth, 
all that has been, is now, or that will be ; it is not 
the things actual or possible, pertaining to all worlds 
throughout the whole universe of God, and for all 
time, which are the subjects of the Divine know- 
ledge — the objects of the Divine intelligence ; but 
all created beings, angels and devils ; all possible, all 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 3 2 5 

conceivable orders of beings and things, with all that 
concerns them for time and for eternity. JEvery 
tiling created by God must be fully known to God / 
and as he created all things, visible and invisible, so 
all must be included in the grasp of his infinite intel- 
ligence. All his works, in all parts of his dominion, 
both of matter and of mind, both the physical and 
spiritual, are fully known to this glorious Being. 
But, 

5. This attribute of God includes a perfect knoiu- 
ledge of his own glorious perfections. This is the 
most wonderful thing that can be said of it. God 
lenoivs himself perfectly. Were this not the case, we 
need not be told that God's knowledge is infinite ; 
for a finite knowledge would have been sufficient to 
comprehend finite existences. But God himself is 
infinite, and hence an infinite knowledge is needed to 
comprehend him. Infinity alone can grasp infinity, 
and the infinite God is alone an object really worthy 
the grasp of an infinite intelligence. All this is 
more than hinted at in that declaration of Scripture, 
" What man knoweth the things of a man, but the 
spirit of man which is in him ? Even so, the things 
of God, knoweth no man but the Spirit of God." If 
this be true, as it undoubtedly is, then a perfect 
comprehension of Deity is only to be looked for in 
Deity. God only can know God in his fullness and 
perfection. The Son and the Holy Spirit know God 
the Father and each other fully. In part — to a 
degree — they may reveal him to us, but it is only a 
beggarly acquaintance with God, to which, with our 



3 2 6 ^B^l kejvz r LIGHT 

finite powers, we can aspire. We can only look, and 
wonder, and adore, while we sigh, for a more perfect 
acquaintance with the glorious source of all light, 
and life, and love. 

And now, by a review of these five particulars, we 
may gain something of an estimate of this wondrous 
attribute. It is, in its very nature, an intuitive 
perception of all actual or possible things, beings, 
existences and events ; it embraces a thorough 
acquaintance with the essence of things — in other 
words, it is all-comprehending and penetrating, as 
well as intuitive. It also comprehends all the rela- 
tions and hearings of all powers, circumstances, and 
events — their relations to each oilier, and to final 
results and ends ; it also covers all worlds and all 
existences, in time, not only, but in eternity / and, 
most remarkable of all, it includes a thorough know- 
ledge of God himself — thus culminating in the 
grandest of all attainments, the perfect comprehension 
of the infinite Jehovah. O wonderful perfection ! 
How is the glory of the Divine nature enhanced in 
our estimation, by this review — brief and imperfect 
though it be ? 

II. Let us now turn to consider briefly the wisdom 
of one whose knowledge is so wonderful. 

By the wisdom of God, we understand that attri- 
bute through which God chooses infallibly the best 
and highest ends in the exercise of his sovereignty, and 
through which he adopts the most perfect means for 
the accomplishment of those ends. The one grand 
end which God has in view, in all his works, is his 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. Z 2 1 

own glory. Infinite wisdom, from all eternity, chose 
this end, and in promoting and furthering it, in 
advancing'it from generation to generation, and from 
age to age, the same infinite wisdom is manifested. 
God displays his perfections, as you know, 

1. In the works of creation. 

2. In the works of providence. And, 

3. In the works of grace. 

Need .we pause to designate particularly the infi- 
nite wisdom of God as exhibited in creation ? Cast 
your eye abroad throughout the whole material 
universe, and behold the grandeur, the glory, the 
harmony, the beauty, the oi % der, every where exhib- 
ited. Can you not say, with the Psalmist, in view 
of all, " The heavens declare the glory of God, and 
the firmament showeth his handiwork ?" Look 
again into every department of being — into the 
animal, the vegetable, the mineral kingdoms. Are 
we not met with the wondrous display of wisdom 
every where ? Behold the striking adaptation of 
one part to another — and all to the one grand 
purpose chosen in the Divine wisdom — the glory 
of God! See how the earth; the air; the water; 
the change of seasons ; the alternations of day and 
night ; the summer's heat and winter's cold ; the 
productions of the soil ; the wealth of the mine ; the 
treasures of the deep ; set forth continually, in their 
admirable uses and adaptations, the wisdom of him 
who created them ! Who dares arise, and with 
impious hand write " foolishness " upon any part of 
the material universe ? 



3 2 8 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

And then, in the works of providence, what con- 
summate skill and wisdom ! Look at the moral 
government of the universe ; the administration of 
strict justice ; the awards to virtue ; the punishment 
of vice ; the infliction of discipline upon' individuals 
and nations, in the form of sickness, disease, war, 
pestilence, and famine ; and all directed, controlled, 
and measured with an infinitely wise and righteous 
ordering, so that all bear upon the one great end, 
the glory of God ! Who, but the most insane and 
impious, can find fault with God's moral government, 
or accuse him of a want of the most consummate 
wisdom in all here wrought by his hands ? 

And then, in the domain of grace, how conspicu- 
ously does the wisdom of God shine forth ! Here, 
infinite justice is to be satisfied. The claims of a 
righteous law are to be met and fully answered. The 
sinner is to be forgiven, and yet in such a way, and 
upon such grounds, that the holiness of God shall 
receive no stain, and the strictest equity no shock. 
Then, this forgiven, this justified sinner, is, in some 
way, to be sanctified, and made meet for eternal com- 
panionship with the highest and holiest intelligences 
in heaven ; nay, with God himself. And all this is to 
be done by God in the exercise of a most perfect sov- 
ereignty, and yet in entire consistency with man's 
proper freedom as a moral and accountable being. O 
what a work ! "Who is sufficient for it ? Who can do 
all this ? Whose wisdom is equal to the task % God 
alone has the wisdom to conceive a plan, whereby he 
can he just, and yet justify the guilty. An atoning 



FOR EARTH L Y FIRESIDES. 329 

sacrifice having infinite merit is selected — that 
sacrifice, God's own Son. He assumes the nature of 
this fallen race. He humbles himself beneath the 
law for them. He dies to satisfy the just demands 
of that law upon them. They are thus relieved from 
condemnation ; from the wrath which abides upon 
the ungodly. And now their sanctification begins. 
The Holy Spirit descends upon them, and takes up 
his abode in their willing hearts. God, the Holy 
Ghost, works within them both to will and to do of 
his good pleasure. One after another, the corrup- 
tions of the carnal nature are expelled. The soul is 
made ripe for heaven, and in due time is admitted, 
without blot or stain, to eternal felicity. 

And all this is through the consummate workings 
of infinite wisdom. This is the theater of its crown- 
ing triumphs. It is here seen to be more wonderful, 
even, than when displayed in the construction of 
worlds, or the government of a universe. As the 
salvation of the soul is the grandest of all the ends 
to be promoted during the ages, so here do we find 
displays of wisdom more illustrious than in either, 
or in all the other operations of the Divine hand. 
Hence, it is in reference to the scheme of redemption, 
that the Scriptures declare that " God has abounded 
toward us in all wisdom and prudence," and that 
in the work of grace is made known "unto the 
principalities and powers through the church, the 

MANIFOLD WISDOM of God." 

And now, in conclusion, let the reader consider 



33° HE A VENL T LIGHT, 

how many and how weighty are the lessons taught us 
by this discussion. 

1. How is all self-gratulation over even the higher 
human attainments in knowledge and wisdom checked 
and reproved by this review ! Alas ! poor short- 
sighted, ignorant worm ! what are all your boasted 
acquisitions, in comparison with God's infinite per- 
fections ? You have made some advancement in 
knowledge ; you have entered, possibly, the arcana 
of nature, and penetrated some of her hidden clois- 
ters ; you have grappled with mathematics, and 
mastered her profound problems ; you have soared 
to the stars, and reaching out into space, have 
counted a few of the shining worlds wheeling there, 
have learned the names which have been given them, 
and become familiar with the laws which govern 
their majestic movements ; you have made the human 
mind your study, and unfolded to such a depth the 
mysteries of spiritual being, that men have stood 
awe-struck in view of your far-reaching speculations ; 
and yet, how mean, how poor, how contemptible, all 
your attainments, when contrasted with God's infi- 
nite knowledge and wisdom. In the comparisoD, all 
the attainments of a Bacon, a Newton, and an 
Edwards even, shrink into nothingness. "Where 
is boasting then ?" 

2. How are the impenitent admonished by this dis- 
cussion f Is it possible to hide sin from a God of 
infinite knowledge ? Can you bury it so deeply in 
the recesses of your bosom that he shall be ignorant 
of its existence ? You may deceive your fellow-men ; 



FOR EAR THE T FIRESIDES. 3 3 I 

your nearest neighbor ; your dearest friend ; your 
father who begat you ; the mother who bore you ; 
the brother or the sister who drew sustenance with 
you from the same breast ; the children of your own 
loins ; the wife of your own bosom even, may be 
kept in utter ignorance of your depravity and sin. 
Not so that God with ivhom you have to do. He 
knows you altogether ; your heart lies as fully open 
before him as the page upon which your eye now 
rests. Confess, then, your every sin ; turn from every 
evil way, and with a soul profoundly convicted, cry, 
" God be merciful to me a sinner." 

3. Then, too, how comforting to the children of 
God to know that a being infinite in hnoivledge and 
wisdom, is fully enlisted to secure their salvation. 
What if they be ignorant ? What if the pathway 
they tread be at times dark and dreary ? What if 
they be often cast down, and sadly bewildered by 
perplexities and fears ? God's infinite knowledge 
and wisdom are pledged to them. He foresees, and 
has provided for all contingencies in their history. 
His knowledge grasps all their future in its minutest 
details, and his toisdom has ordered and adjusted 
every event to the promotion of his own honor and 
their eternal good. Let the righteous confide in 
these Divine perfections in the darkest, gloomiest 
hours, knowing that that was no idle boast of the 
great Apostle to the Gentiles, when he exclaimed, 
"All things work together for good to them that 
love God ; to them who are the called according to 
his purpose." 



33 2 HE A VENL T LIGHT, E TC. 

Let them take it home to their hearts as a most 
glorious assurance " that neither death nor life, nor 
angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things 
present nor things to come, nor height nor breadth, 
nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us 
.from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our 
Lord." What an assurance ! How full of blessed- 
ness to him whose soul is stayed upon God ! For 
this, as for all the other gifts of his grace, let every 
soul exclaim — 

"TO GOD ONLY WISE BE GLORY, , 
THROUGH JESUS CHRIST FOREVER, 

AMEN." 



CHAPTER XX, 



"Nature, faint emblem of Omnipotence! 
Shaped by his hand, the shadow of his light, 
The veil in which he wraps his majesty, 
And through whose mantling folds he deigns to show 
Of his mysterious, awful attributes, 
And dazzling splendors, all man's feeble thought 
Can grasp uncrushed, or vision bear unquenched." — Street. 

" The mighty God."— Isaiah ix. 6. 



We are brought, in this chapter, to the consideration 
of the infinite 'power of God. This attribute is often, 
in Scripture, termed " might /" and one of the very 
common designations of Jehovah is the " Mighty," 
or "Almighty God." This perfection is also, by 
theological writers, named " Omnipotence " — a term 
compounded of two Latin words, which signify, all- 
'power. 

So fully is infinite power claimed, in Scripture, to 
belong to God, and so generally is it conceded 
among men, as an undoubted attribute of Deity, that 
it is scarcely worth while to introduce a formal array 
of proof-texts in this place to show that this is one 
of the Divine perfections. It is, however, important 



334 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

that we should have this great truth deeply im- 
pressed upon our minds. It is important that it 
become to us a truth ever present, a consciousness, as 
it were, entering into every thought, and influencing 
every act of our lives. To this end, let us consider 
some of the methods in which it displays itself, in 
the works of God. And, # 

1. The infinite power of God is displayed in the 
fact of creation. That matter is not eternal, is now 
universally conceded among intelligent Christians. 
If matter is not eternal, then was it produced from 
nothing. This is precisely what Scripture affirms : 
" In the beginning, God created the heavens and the 
earth." They had not existed before. From all 
eternity, they were not. At length, God spake, and 
it was done. All the material existences in the 
universe sprang into being. Worlds and systems of 
worlds, appeared at the call of God. Pause now, for 
a moment, and try to grasp this great thought. It 
is possible to conceive of God as existing alone. 
Nothing has being but himself. The Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost, the three — one Jehovah exists alone 
in the universe. All is vacancy ; all unoccupied 
space. Suddenly a creative fiat goes forth from 
God, and immediately that space, but now wholly 
void of all existences, is filled. Worlds upon worlds 
at once appear. From nothing all things come. Than 
this, it is impossible to conceive of a greater exhi- 
bition of power. The fact of creation must forever 
stand a most transcendent proof that our God is 
indeed Almighty. But, 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 335 

2. The mode of creation, as well as the fact of it, 
illustrates the infinite power of Jehovah. The whole 
creative work is effected by the word of God : " He 
spake, and it was done ; he commanded, and it stood 
fast." " Through faith," says Paul, " we understand 
that the worlds were framed, by the word of God, so 
that things which are seen, were not made of things 
which do appear." It was not by a long and pain- 
ful process ; not by labor and toil ; not by the 
exercise of all his strength and skill, in successive 
efforts, that God effected the creative work ; but by 
a single exercise of his will ; a single utterance of his 
lips. Wonderful beyond all expression, the power 
which is adequate to this ! He has but to say, " let 
it be," and it is. But, 

3. The omnipotence of God is displayed in the 
variety and number of the objects created by him. 
It is of course readily admitted that the power ade- 
quate to the production of one object from nothing, 
be it great or small, is sufficient for the creation of 
any number ; and yet the fact that the one creative 
fiat brought into being myriads upon myriads of 
objects, of all conceivable form, size, character, and 
use, enhances our admiration. Consider, if you 
please, the sun, which is the center of our solar 
system. What a wonderful object this ! Though 
ninety-five millions of miles from our earth, yet it 
throws its inexhaustible rays of light and heat in 
all directions across the vast intervening space, 
warming, illuminating, and vitalizing all things 
with which they come in contact. What a manifes- 



33& HE A VENL T LIGHT 

tation of power — of infinite power — have we in the 
fact that this glowing orb was produced, with all its 
conditions, laws, and beneficent uses, from nothing, 
in an instant of time, by the simple word, or ex- 
pressed wish of Jehovah. But then, we must con- 
sider that this sun is the center of a glorious system 
of worlds — of which our earth is one — which 
revolves around it, deriving light, and life, and 
order, from its inexhaustible influences. Now, to 
look at this one sun, and this one system of worlds, 
and to remember how and whence they were pro- 
duced, certainly excites in our hearts the profoundest 
emotions of wonder and awe. But what shall we 
say when it is considered that our present telescopic 
range reveals, within its circuit, not less than one 
hundred millions of these suns, each as glorious as 
ours, and each the center of a system of worlds as 
numerous as ours ? And then, let it be considered, 
further, that were it possible for us to go with our 
largest telescopes to the most distant planet yet 
revealed to us, and from that, as a stand-point, look 
forth into the regions beyond, millions upon millions 
of new suns, and new systems, would be disclosed to 
our wondering gaze ; and all, all, spoken into being 
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. When we 
think of all this, how are we lost in wonder ! The 
one creative fiat produced not one, nor one thousand, 
nor one million, but myriads upon myriads of worlds, 
with all their peculiarities and glories, dazzling us 
with their brilliancy and beauty, as they suddenly 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 337 

appear in their orbits, whirling with an inconceiva- 
ble velocity, through the vast fields of space, 

"Forever singing, as they shine, 
The hand that made us is Divine." 

If we were in doubt as to the infinite power of 
God, we certainly must find convincing proof of its 
existence in the number, variety, and character of the 
material worlds, which owe their origin to him. 
"Lift up your eyes on high," says Isaiah, "and 
behold, who hath created these things, that bringeth 
out their host by number ; he calleth them all by 
their names, by the greatness of his might, for that 
he is strong in power; not one faileth." It has 
been ascertained by recently constructed telescopes 
of great power, " that a line extending from two 
extreme nebulae, in opposite parts of the heavens, 
stretches over a space through which a ray of light 
can not travel in less than sixty millions of years. 
Through the immense sphere of which this is the 
diameter, it is estimated that millions upon millions 
of orbs, not only, but of congregations of orbs, are 
scattered with gorgeous profusion ; and how far 
beyond this prodigious sphere no man knoweth ; but 
the probability is that it bears but the proportion of 
a grain of sand to our globe, compared to the outer 
boundaries of the universe of God ; yet all equally 
replenished and crowded with galaxies and diversified 
forms of existence. The world we inhabit, large as 
it is, with its mountains and valleys, its vast oceans 
and continents, is small compared with other globes 

22 



33^ HE A VENL r LIGHT 

belonging to our system. The planet Jupiter contains 
a volume of matter equal to near thirteen hundred of 
our earths ; but the sun is three hundred and fifty-five 
thousand times larger than our world. Overpower- 
ing as this magnitude is, it is diminutive compared 
with the size of some of the fixed stars. The star 
Sirius, is, with good reason, supposed to be equal in 
size to many of our suns ; but the solid contents of 
the star called Vega, are estimated to be fifty-four 
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two times larger 
than the solid contents of the sun. The magnitude 
of such a globe is altogether overpowering to the 
human imagination, and it baffles every effort to 
approximate to a distinct conception of an object of 
such amplitude and splendor. Yet we have reason 
to believe that there are millions upon millions of 
.such orbs scattered through the spacious universe. 
The number of telescopic stars in the Milky Way 
has been estimated at eighteen millions / but who 
can limit the number ? And it must be remembered 
that the Milky Way is only one collection of stars, 
and seems to form a type of thousands of similar 
clusters or galaxies, which are seen faintly looming 
in regions too remote for distinct conception. Sir 
John Herschel himself has observed two thousand 
five hundred nebulae, or clusters of stars ; and what 
multitudes more may be observed by the superior 
power of Lord Rosse's telescope ; and what further 
numbers more may yet be discovered through similar 
instruments in other hemispheres, we are unable to 
determine. In some of those already examined, the 



FOR BARTHL T FIRESIDES. 339 

crowds of stars are found so dense that " ten or 
twenty thousand stars appear compacted or wedged 
together in a space not larger than a tenth of that 
covered by the moon, and presenting, in its center, 
one blaze of light." * 

Surely, in view of such a wondrous universe, 
spoken into being by a simple fiat of Jehovah, we 
may well concur in the declaration of Scripture, 
" Power belongeth unto God." But again, 

4. We behold a striking display of the infinite 
poiver of God in the xoonderful forces of nature. 
Power is one of the properties of the God-appointed 
elements. The ivinds give unmistakable evidence 
of this when careering over land and sea, in the 
terrific simoom, tornado, or hurricane. What an 
emblem of power is the dashing current of Niagara, 
or the resistless sweep of the swollen Mississippi, 
Missouri, or Amazon ! How easily does the heaving 
earthquake shatter into fragments the most firmly 
based monuments of human skill and genius ! With 
what a sudden, terrible destruction, does the fright- 
ful avalanche sweep before it every obstacle, burying 
in its desolating track, villages, and hamlets, and 
cities, pausing not for the piteous cry of infancy, or 
the despairing groans of old age ! And then, in 
the irresistible thunderbolt, what a mighty power is 
lodged ! What can stand before it, when, hissing 
with its hidden fires, it leaps from the charged cloud 
to the earth, rending, in its descent, the gnarled 
monarch of the forest, or dashing to the ground the 

* Dr. W. Cooke on the Deity, pp. 267, 268. 



3 4° HE A VENL r LIGHT 

marble towers of church or capitol, or the rocky 
walls of the citadel or fort, deemed secure against all 
the attacks of man-made engines of destruction ! 
The irresistible power of heat and steam, too ; the 
might with which powder, and all explosive mixtures 
and gases are charged ; and the destructive power 
of every element of nature when unrestrained by a 
mightier arm than man's ! All this is well known 
to every thoughtful observer. And whence all this 
might, this power, this force, so conspicuous in the 
elements ? From whence did they derive it ? All 
the power you see in nature is but a faint, a very 
faint reflection of what resides in the arm of the God 
of nature. From him, all this might is derived. 
Were not infinite power one of the attributes of 
Deity, nothing of this would be observable in the 
works of his hands. 

And it is worthy of remark just here, that we gain 
glimpses of the infinitude, the limitless character of 
God's power, in these exhibitions of it in the 
elements. When the volcano, the earthquake, or the 
thunderbolt, has done its work, we are led, in look- 
ing at the ruins, to exclaim, " This is but a part of 
what the power lodged in the elements might have 
accomplished, had God so willed." We feel that the 
irresistible force which opened the earth and swal- 
lowed Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and all their 
sinful company, was sufficient, had it been the will 
of the Lord, to have destroyed the whole host of Israel. 
When the fire descended from heaven and burned up 
the cities of the plain with their guilty inhabitants, 



FOR EAR TIIL Y FIRESIDES. 34 l 

we Lave not a doubt but that, in like manner, every 
city of tLe old world might have been destroyed. 
There is, in fact, seen and believed to be a reserve 
force, an unexpended power, in all these cases, which 
point clearly to the infinitude of God's might. No 
one will be rash enough to claim that in any exhibi- 
tion of power, by the elements, since the world began, 
all was accomplished which might have been. We 
thus are clearly directed to that Being whose power 
is like all his other attributes — without bounds or 
limitations. 

Leaving, however, this comparatively restricted 
sphere of observation, and taking a wider view of 
the universe, we will find in the same general direc- 
tion, manifestations of power absolutely overwhelm- 
ing. The whole boundless universe is in motion. So 
far as we know, each globe which composes it is in 
constant revolution upon its own axis, whirling round 
at a rate more or less rapid, while it has at the same 
time an onward movement through space, which 
causes it to perform revolutions in fixed times 
around its central sun. Thus our earth makes one 
revolution on its own axis in twenty-four hours, 
causing bodies on its surface at the equator, to move 
at the rate of about one thousand miles per hour ; 
while the whole planet is whirling around the sun at 
the rate of as many miles per minute. Even this 
velocity — one thousand miles per minute — is almost 
incredible to us ; and yet this is as nothing in com- 
parison with the speed of other heavenly bodies. It 
is estimated that the planet Mercury, and one of the 



3 4 2 HE A VENL r LIGHT 

stars in Cassiopeise, move at the rate of about two 
thousand miles per minute. A comet which appeared 
in sixteen hundred and eighty was found to flash 
through space at the astonishing rate of one thousand 
three hundred and sixty-six miles in a minute ; or 
more than two thousand two hundred and seventy-jive 
miles per second. If we admit, with some philoso- 
phers, that light is material, then we have in this 
element an example of a movement at the rate of 
twelve million miles per minute, or two hundred 
thousand miles per second. And yet, even this is 
moderate, when compared with the velocity of a 
double star, number sixty-one, Cygni, which is pro- 
pelled at the terrific speed of twenty millions of 
millions of miles per annum, or about six hundred 
and thirty-jive thousand miles in a second of time. 
Of course, no human mind can form any proper con- 
ception of such speed as this ; and back of all, lies 
the infinite power of God which is constantly exerted 
in propelling these innumerable worlds through their 
vast circuits at this incomprehensible velocity. Phi- 
losophers speak of the centrifugal and centripetal 
forces — the one driving these vast worlds forward 
in the direction of a straight line ; the other con- 
stantly bending them from their onward course, so 
that the path they describe in the heavens is orbicu- 
lar — but the Christian sees in these, only the displays 
of God's Almightiness, by which he " bringeth forth 
Mazaroth in his season, guide th Arcturus and his 
sons, and appointeth the ordinances of heaven." 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 343 

Let the reader pause now for a moment, and 
look at these facts. Think of a universe absolutely 
boundless in extent, filled with myriads of worlds, 
and systems of worlds, the whole whirling in incon- 
ceivable grandeur and glory, and with a velocity and 
complication of motion utterly incomprehensible to 
us ; and yet all these movements and evolutions 
produced by the direct and continuous exertion of 
one single arm. Wonderful beyond expression ! 
Truly may the Psalmist exclaim, " The heavens 
declare the glory of God." But again, . 

5. We find the omnipotence of God displayed 
in the preservation of all that lie has created. Two 
views have been taken of the relation of all created 
beings and objects to God. The first is, that having 
been brought into existence, they then continue to 
exist without particular care, until God, by a special 
exercise of his will, calls them away. The second 
view is, that God exercises, during every moment of 
time, upon every object of his vast dominions, a pre- 
serving power ; and that, if he did not do this, they 
would sink, by virtue of their own weakness, out of 
being. This last, we believe to be the true view, and 
is the one which is sustained by Scripture. This is 
manifestly the sense in which the Apostle's words 
are to be taken, when he says, " In him we live, and 
move, and have our being." What is it to " live" in 
God, and to "move" in him, but to experience a 
constant manifestation of his preserving kindness in 
our behalf ; to be upheld with his strength, and to 
have our being prolonged from day to day, by a 



344 HE A VBNL T LIGHT 

special exercise of his providence ? This, it would 
seem, is the only proper construction to be put upon 
these words. And then, there is that other apostolic 
declaration, in which Christ, as God, is spoken of as 
" upholding all tilings by the loord of his power." 
This is certainly a work distinct from creation. To 
uphold, is to keep in being after an object is made. 
If Christ, as God, " upholds all things by the word 
of his power," then must there be a constant and 
unceasing exercise of infinite power in behalf of every 
object in nature, or it would sink into nothingness, 
and be as though it had never been. If, then, we 
have no doubt that it required the power of an 
infinite being to create all things from nothing, we 
have no more doubt that it is a most signal display' 
of omnipotence to upheld every hour, every moment, 
all that has thus been created. This exercise of pre- 
serving power has been called " a continued creation." 
This expression presents, in some sense, a just view 
of the subject. There are forces at work in nature 
which continually tend to destroy. The process of 
decomposition and ruin is going on every hour. The 
action of the air, the heat, the moisture, tends to 
rottenness. Yegetation every where changes annu- 
ally. Trees, shrubs, and plants, fall, and are soon 
mingled with the earth. Animals and men live for 
a little and then die, and return to their kindred 
dust. Even the solid crust of the earth's surface, 
and the granite of her mountains and her hills, feel 
the power of change, and are sensibly affected by the 
abrading tooth of time. Still there is a power bach 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 3 45 

of all, and above all, which is continually exercised 
in repairing the breaches made, in supplying the 
wastes effected, and in restoring the devastation 
wrought. This power must be infinite to reach to, 
and be exercised upon the myriads upon myriads of 
objects throughout the entire universe of God. And 
how soon, were not this power exercised, would the 
entire creation be wasted and destroyed ! The sun 
would ere long exhaust his store of rays, and cease 
to shine ; the vegetable kingdom would no longer 
exist ; animals, having no sustenance, would die ; man 
himself would become extinct, and the universe 
become one vast aceldama. With what propriety, 
then, does the Apostle declare, " In him we live, and 
move, and have our being.' 1 '' But yet again, 

6. God's infinite power is displayed in the moral 
government of the universe. 

Of this government, intelligent beings are the 
subjects — beings, too, who are obstinate, refractory, 
and rebellious. Men and devils, continually exercis- 
ing all their arts ; all their powers ; to thwart the 
wise and beneficent purposes of Jehovah, are those 
with whom he is constantly in conflict. And yet, 
such is the power of God, that we have no doubt as 
to the final result. True, for wise purposes, God 
gives a certain freedom to the wicked. He allows 
their schemes to have a seeming success. Their evil 
passions break forth in robberies, thefts, murders, 
drunkenness, revelry, and debauchery, and for a 
time the world may be deluded with the thought 
that " God does not see ; neither does he under- 



34-6 HE A VENL r LIGHT 

stand." But suddenly the scene changes. Some 
terrible visitation of Divine wrath is poured out upon 
the guilty. "War, pestilence, famine, in quick suc- 
cession, descend, and men learn that there is verily 
a God who reigns in heaven, and among the inhab- 
itants of the earth ; ' a God who neither slumbereth 
nor sleepeth, and who is the certain avenger of his 
own righteous law. 

The history of the world affords many striking 
exhibitions of God's infinite power as the moral gov- 
ernor of the universe. We have the space, now, only 
to mention the overthrow of the antediluvian world 
with a flood ; the destruction of the great dynasties 
of the early world — Assyria, Medo-Persia, Macedonia, 
and Rome ; and the degradation of Egypt from being 
a first-rate power, until it has become the basest of 
kingdoms. As regards modern nations and peoples, 
God's power may be seen- in the preservation of the 
Jews and Arabs; while in strict accordance with 
prophecy, we have to-day the Mohamedan power 
tottering to its fall, in its chief representative — the 
sick man on the Bosphorus — the deadly wound of 
the beast unhealed, and the Pope of Ronie seeking 
refuge from his own enraged and outraged children ; 
while the influential nations are those which either 
profess or openly tolerate the pure Gospel of the 
Son of God. Surely, " Our God is Lord among the 
nations." 

But lastly. This wondrous attribute of Jehovah is 
signally displayed in the glorious work of salvation. 

To plant the Gospel in this sin-cursed earth ; to 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 347 

cany it forward from generation to generation, amid 
the most determined opposition ; to bring, through 
its agency, thousands and tens of thousands, both of 
Jews and Gentiles, to the knowledge of the truth ; 
to break down the strong opposition of the carnal 
heart ; to subdue its hatred ; to cause it to cast down 
its weapons of rebellion, and come, a subdued, meek, 
repentant suppliant, to the mercy seat ; and to do 
this, in the case of the millions who this hour rejoice 
before the throne in glory, as well as for the millions 
who are yet continued on the earth — making a 
multitude which no man can number ; to do all this 
by his own power, through Jesus Christ, is it not a 
glorious display of the almightiness of that God 
whose we are, and whom we serve % 

Remember, that in this great work of redemption, 
God has done it all. He devised the plan in the 
councils of eternity. He laid the corner-stones of 
hope, in the gift of his Son. He wrought the 
mighty deliverance for the guilty by rolling the 
burden of a world's crime over upon Christ. He 
gave the Spirit to be the illuminator of darkened 
minds ; the convictor of stubborn souls. He sent 
forth the Enochs and the Noahs, the Aarons and 
Ezras, the Isaiahs and Daniels of the old dispensa- 
tion ; and the Peters and Pauls, the James and Johns, 
and Timothys of the new ; and upholding them by 
a continued exercise of his almighty grace, enabled 
them to blow the gospel trumpet, which, with no 
uncertain sound, has signalled the deliverance of man 
from spiritual death in all ages. He it is who has 



34-8 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

ever been, by his Spirit, in the soul of every return- 
ing prodigal, strengthening his new-formed resolution 
to seek his father's house. He it is who has whis- 
pered encouragement to the faint and desponding, 
when ready to give up in despair. He it is 
who has been by every sick-bed, by every dying- 
couch, from the time that Abel breathed out his 
martyr spirit, to the present moment, whispering 
peace and consolation to the redeemed in their pas- 
sage through the dark pathway to glory. Yes ; 
every thing connected with, every thing pertaining to, 
the soul's salvation, since the world began to the 
present hour, is through the exercise — constant, 
unwearied, and sleejDless — of that infinite power of 
which we treat. And, Christian reader, when you 
stand upon Mount Zion, and join in the grand choral 
of eternity, praise, unceasing praise, to the infinite 
poiver of God, for his triumphs in redemption, will 
be one of your highest, most exultant strains. 

And now two thoughts claim our attention in 
conclusion : 

1. God's power is infinite to save ! Will you 
trust it ? You say you are a great sinner. "What 
of it \ Here is an Almighty Deliverer ! Are you 
convinced of the infinitude of this power by the 
displays of it in creation and providence ? Come 
and let it be exerted in your behalf, in the work of 
grace. Glorious as it is in the first two theaters of 
its operations, you will find it no less glorious in the 
latter. But, 

2. If God's power is infinite to save, it is also 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 349 

infinite to destroy ! Can this be doubted ? Do you 
hear the shouts of victory, of joy, of ecstacy, in 
heaven ; and are these evidences of God's power to 
save ? Listen, also ; listen closely, and you shall 
hear, with equal distinctness, the wailings of despair 
in the world of woe ; wailings which are the unmis- 
takable evidences of God's power to punish his foes. 
O reader, be wise. 

" Seek ye the Lord wiiile he may be found ; 
call ye upon him while he is near | let the 
wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous 
man his thoughts, and let him return unto the 
Lord, who will have mercy upon him, AND 

UNTO OUE GOD WHO WILL ABUNDANTLY 

PAEDON." 



CHAPTER XXI. 



" Harps of eternity ! begin the song : 
Redeemed, and angel harps ! begin to God, 
Begin the anthem, ever sweet and new, 
While I extol him, holy, just, and good, 
Life, beauty, light, intelligence, and love 1 
Eternal, uncreated, infinite, 
Unsearchable Jehovah! God of truth! 
Maker, upholder, governor of all!" — Pollok. 

"These things saith he that is holy." — Rev. iii. 7. 



The subject of this chapter is of transcendent solem- 
nity. We have, in the preceding pages, contemplated 
many wondrous attributes of the Almighty : his 
infinity, eternity, unchangeableness, knowledge, wis- 
dom, and power ; and all are seen to be perfections, 
the consideration of which is well calculated to 
impress us with awe, and fill our minds with rever- 
ence for the Divine Being. But it is safe to say that 
the 

HOLINESS OF GOD 

is an excellence so peculiarly glorious, that it stands 
out with a special prominence in all our conceptions 
of Deity. So impressed with this have some writers 



3 5 2 HE A VBNL T LIGHT 

been, that instead of looking upon it as a single 
attribute standing alone — a quality by itself — they 
have been led to consider it, and speak of it, as 
the combined luster and effulgence of all the other 
attributes, acting in harmonious union. Others, again, 
have regarded it as a quality or property of the 
Divine nature, which, like infinity, characterizes all 
the other perfections of Deity, and imparts to each 
a peculiar excellency. Thus, in the language of an 
ingenious writer, "As holiness is the glory of the 
Godhead, so it is the glory of every perfection in the 
Godhead. As his power is the strength of all the 
perfections, so his holiness is the beauty of them all. 
As all would be weak without almightiness to back 
them, so all would be uncomely without holiness to 
adorn them. Should this perfection be sullied, all 
the rest w r ould lose their glory; just as the instant 
the sun should lose its light, that instant would it 
lose its heat, its strength, its generative and quickening 
virtue. As sincerity is the luster of every grace in 
the Christian, so is holiness the splendor of every 
attribute in the Godhead. His justice is holy justice ; 
his wisdom is a holy wisdom ; his arm of power a 
holy arm." * 

It follows, then, necessarily, that all the attributes 
of Deity, being characterized by holiness ; this being, 
as it were, a distinguishing trait, or property, of 
them al], every thing he does, every thing he says, 
nay, every thought of his mind, must be holy. His 
purposes must be holy purposes ; his decrees holy 

* Charnock. 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 353 

decrees ; and every thing which emanates from him, 
must, like himself, be hoi}'. In any view, then, that 
we take of the Divine Being, his holiness will stand 
prominently forth, and be the distinguishing peculi- 
arity which first meets our admiring gaze. We may 
dwell for a time with admiration upon his poiver ; 
Lis infinity may elicit our astonishment ; his know- 
ledge and wisdom may excite our wonder ; but before 
Lis matchless holiness, we are disposed to fall in 
deepest adoration, and cry, with angels and archan- 
gels, " Holy, holy, holy art thou, Lord God almighty ; 
the whole earth is full of thy glory." 

In contemplating this wonderful perfection of the 
Divine nature, we remark, 

1. That it may be considered as the absence of all 
evil. It is an entire freedom from the slightest taint 
of impurity or sin. While, without question, the 
infinite knowledge of God brings him into a perfect 
acquaintance with all sin ; with all the evil there is 
or can be in the universe ; still none of this attaches 
to, or can, by any possibility, become a part of the 
Holy One of Israel. By his omnipresence, he is 
certainly forever with the wricked ; upon their right 
hand and upon their left ; continually beholding the 
evil and the good ; yet he remains wholly free from 
all contamination. 

Of this it is, of course, not easy for us to conceive. 
Constituted as we are, contact with sin is almost 
certain defilement. We are continually demonstrat- 
ing, in our bitter experience, that no one can " take 
fire into his bosom and not be burned." We see so 

33 



354 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

constantly this liability to corruption from contact 
with surrounding impurity, that it is all but impossi- 
ble for us to realize that our God can hioio all sin ; 
see all sin ; be around it, and with it, constantly, by 
virtue of his necessary omnipresence, and yet be, and 
for ever remain, without the slightest contamination. 
Yet so it is. 

We have, as you know, in the earth-life of Jesus 
Christ, a beautiful and striking exemplification of 
this truth. He was brought constantly into contact 
with sin. He saw every form of evil. His ears were 
polluted with curses and blasphemies. He had cog- 
nizance of all forms of corruption and vice ; and yet 
the record is, that he was " holy, harmless, and unde- 
nted, and separate from sinners" He was tempted 
in all points, like as we are, " yet without sin." 
Even that wonderful contact with Satan himself, in 
the wilderness of temptation, left him without the 
slightest mark of defilement. 

Now what we know to have been true of Christ, is 
true also of all the persons in the Godhead. The 
Holy Spirit, as we read, enters the regenerate soul, 
fights a mighty battle with its sins, drives them out, 
and makes that soul his resting-place. And yet, he 
is still the Holt Ghost. Contact with sin corrupts 
him not. The immaculate purity of the Godhead 
can not be affected in the least by defilement. A 
diamond may lie amid the filth of the mine for cen- 
turies, and yet lose not one particle of its luster. 
% The foul fogs of a thousand swamps may rise to the 
sun, and yet not a single ray be shorn of its glory. 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 355 

Fishes may swim in the briny ocean for years, and 
yet retain all their natural freshness. 

Our first remark, then, is that the holiness of God 
includes perfect freedom from the slightest evil; that 
this is a necessity of his being ; and that he never 
can become contaminated, though constantly in con- 
tact, by virtue of his omniscience and omnipresence, 
with vice and corruption in all its forms. But, 

2. The holiiiess of the Divine nature is the assured 
p>ossession of every grace and virtue. It is not merely 
something negative, as freedom from evil ; the ivant 
of impurity, or the absence of even the remotest iudi- 
nation or liability to evil / but it is the possession of 
that transcendent excellence, rectitude and upright- 
ness, as a necessary element of his character, which 
secures the utmost purity in God himself, and 
in all his thoughts, purposes, decrees and acts. " To 
call God holy, is to affirm that he renders to his 
creatures their due, and governs them by laws 
adapted to their natures and relations ; that he is 
full of benevolence, and takes pleasure in communi- 
cating happiness to the proper objects of his good- 
ness ; that he deals sincerely with them, and never 
amuses them with fallacious hopes, nor terrifies them 
with imaginary fears." "As a holy being, God loves, 
and can but love every thing which is conformable 
to his law, and hates every thing which is contrary 
to it. ' God is light, and in him is no darkness at 
all.' (1 John i. 5.) His nature is as pure as the sun- 
light when it first emanates from its source. Sin is 
more offensive to him than the most disgusting taste 



35^ HRA VENL T LIGHT 

is to our palate, or the most loathsome object to our 
eye. He is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and 
he can not look upon iniquity." * 

Having thus considered the nature of this Divine 
perfection, let us now turn to notice some of the 
methods in which it is displayed ; and, 

1. It is manifested in the holy nature originally 
possessed by all the angels, and also by man, as coming 
from the hand of God. 

That God created the angels, and that they were 
all holy when they first came into being, are propo- 
sitions which few will venture to deny. That man 
also was created by him, and that he too, was at 
first holy, without any taint of sin, will also be, by 
most readers, cheerfully admitted. The Scripture 
declaration, " God made man upright," will not be 
questioned by the impartial reader. Now, if angels 
and men were holy when God created them, then must 
they have had a holy creator. An imperfect creator 
can not make a perfect creature ; an unholy creator 
can not produce a holy being. " Who can bring a 
clean thing out of an unclean ?" is an inquiry which 
Job propounded in his day, and the reason and 
judgment of all men reply, with him, "not one." 
That holiness was the original state of both angels 
and men, the Scriptures abundantly teach ; and 
reason says that holy beings can only come from the 
hands of a holy God. 

"We know very well that the question has often 
been asked in a sort of triumphant derision, " Who 

* Dick's Theology. 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 357 

made the devil and his angels }" We reply, God 
made them, but he made them holy angels, and by 
their own voluntary sin they made themselves d 
It has often been heard, too, as an expression of won- 
der, on the lips of those who have the temerity to 
reject the teachings of God in revelation, Itoic man, 
with all his present sinfulness aud depravity, could 
with any propriety be called the child of a holy 
God ! If those persons who are so sorely puzzled 
would but admit the truth of the Mosaic record 
touching creation, and concede the single reasonable 
proposition, that from a holy God could not come an 
unholy being, and that Adam and Eve were both 
originally perfect — created in the image of God, in. 
knowledge, righteousness and holiness, and that all 
sin, corruption, depravity and evil have resulted from 
the voluntary apostacy of man — his willful lapse 
from his first estate — if this single fact, clearly 
revealed in Scripture, were but admitted, all cause 
for wonder and surprise would cease. 

It is, of course, very true that even were this ad- 
mitted, all opportunity for cavil would not be re- 
moved. Men would still continue to ask, as they 
have done in every age, " Why did not God create 
both men and angels with such natures that they 
could not sin ? Why did he not render them inca- 
2)alle of sinning?" To all such inquiries we are 
compelled to reply, that for what he did, an all-wise, 
omniscient, holy and sovereign God must have had 
good and sufficient reasons, and that it is enough for 
us to exclaim, with reverence and love, " Even so, 



3 5 8 HE A VBNL T LIGHT 

Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight /" Of this 
and many other mysteries we may have a better 
knowledge when we come to view them in the 
brighter light of an eternal day. But, 

2. God's holiness is manifested in the matchless 
excellence of the moral law, given as a rule of life to 
Ids accountable creatures. 

When angels were created, we presume that a per- 
fect moral law was enstamped by their Creator upon 
their nature. This law was violated by those who 
fell from their first estate, and there being no method 
devised for their recovery, they rest this hour, and 
must for ever rest, under the power of that law, as 
a condemning statute. Adam, too, when created, 
had this law engraven upon his soul, so that his eat- 
ing the forbidden fruit was not only in contravention 
of the special condition of the covenant of works, 
but was in direct violation of the eternal principles 
of right and duty, woven by the finger of the Al- 
mighty into the very texture of his moral being. 
Man, however, was not left, like the fallen angels, to 
perish without hope ; so God was pleased to write 
out, as his rule of duty, in characters which could be 
read and pondered, that law which was once the un- 
dimmed and unsullied expression in his soul, of the 
divine will. Angels had but one copy of that law — 
the one written upon their spiritual nature ; man, by 
the grace of God, more fortunate, has this law set 
forth in revelation, especially contained in that sum- 
mary known as the decalogue or ten commandments. 
The record of the law upon the soul of man has be- 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 359 

come sullied, and blurred, and blotted, and all but 
illegible, by reason of the fall ; still, traces of it 
are seen in the conscience, and wherever it shows 
itself indications of its old purity, and holiness, and 
perfection appear. It is, however, in the written code ; 
especially in that comprehensive summary known as 
the Decalogue, that we are made to see that the "law 
is holy and the commandment holy." 

Now, the holiness of God will appear clearly re- 
flected in his law, when we consider both the design 
of it, and the tendency of it. The design of the law, 
whether written in our hearts or in the decalogue, is 
to make us more like God. It is a transcript of the 
divine will, and we are to conform our life to it ; and 
the more we become like what the law requires in 
our lives, the more we are like God. Then the ten- 
dency of the law is to lead us upward to God. The 
apostle says it is "a schoolmaster to lead us to 
Christ." This is not only its design and end, but, 
by the grace of God, its inevitable tendency, too. 

Our argument, then, is this : a law which is pro- 
nounced by an inspired apostle to be holy, having such 
holy and sanctifying ends, and whose tendency is to 
lead the soul out of its defilement into the bosom of 
God, does most clearly demonstrate the holiness of 
that Beiny from whom it emanated. The argument 
here is the same as that drawn from the creation of 
man and of angels. A holy offspring can not come 
from an unholy parentage. A code of moral laws, 
perfectly lioly, could only have been framed by a 
Holy Lawgivee. But, 



3^0 HE A VENL Y LIGHT 

3. We see the holiness of God displayed in the 
moral government of the universe* 

It is an undeniable fact, confirmed by the experi- 
ence of every age and generation, that men can not 
commit sin with impunity. There is something — 
call it " nature /" call it " the established order of 
things /" call it what you will — which is a check and 
restraint upon indulgence in violation of the holy 
law written at creation upon our souls, and repro- 
duced in the Scriptures of Divine truth. The man 
who, in any age, in any country, among any people, 
under any circumstances, or for any cause, disregards 
or tramples upon, or in any way defies this holy law, 
feels, in some way, and sooner or later, the conse- 
quences. There is an uneasiness of mind, a compunc- 
tion of conscience, an undefined fear of punishment, 
a nameless dread of impending judgment, which 
poisons his cup of happiness. Oftentimes he loses 
his health ; his constitution is undermined, and he 
sinks, in consequence, into an untimely grave. On 
the other hand, that person who aims at, and who 
attains to some degree of conformity to the great 
law of holiness ; who lives, by God's help, in a 
measure in unison thereto, enjoys a certain peace 
of mind, and finds that declaration of Scripture true, 
that " Godliness is profitable unto all things, having 
promise of the life that now is, and of that which is 
•to come." 

And now, let no one understand us as teaching the 

* For a more full consideration of this point, see Chapter XI. of this 
treatise. •* 



FOR EAR THE Y FIRESIDES. 3 6 1 

Universalist doctrine that man receives all Lis pun- 
ishment for sin in this life ; nor the equally dangerous 
heresy, that man can be holy without that great and 
radical change of nature known as regeneration, or 
the new birth. But what we affirm, and all we affirm 
is, that there is that in the present undeniable system 
of things, as it exists under the moral administra- 
tion of God to show, that holiness of life is the one 
great standard of excellence to which he would have 
his intelligent creatures aspire; and that this order of 
things clearly points to a God whose very nature is 
holy as the author of it. But, 

4. The holiness of God is most gloriously exhibited 
in the life and character of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Although we have, here, an almost inexhaustible 
field, upon which we are tempted to enter, we can 
yet do no more than take a very hasty glance at it. 
Who and whence was Christ ? Now, in whatever 
way this question is answered, we have, in his life 
and character, a striking exemplification of the holi- 
ness of God. If, it is said, with the Socinians and 
Unitarians, that Christ is but a man, a creature ; that 
God made him as he made other human beings ; then 
we affirm that the absolute holiness and sinlessness 
which marked so undeniably the character of Jesus, 
must have been implanted in him by his maker. But 
God can not impart what he does not himself possess. 
If Jesus, then, was holy, even upon the Socinian idea, 
God must be holy ; for he is the source whence he 
derived the transcendent excellence of his nature. 

But then, if on the other hand, we answer the 



362 HBA VENL T LIGHT 

question, ""Who was Christ?" as we believe it should 
be answered, and say that he is God ; then do we see 
what an overwhelmingly convincing illustration his 
life furnishes of the holiness of Deity. The holiness 
of Christ can not be overlooked. This is the one 
great leading characteristic of his being. Every one 
saw it when he was here upon earth. His friends 
saw it, and adored him on account of it. His 
enemies saw it, and hated him for it. Even the man 
who condemned him to death saw it, and exclaimed, 
" I am innocent of the blood of this just man ; I 
find no fault in him." We who now read the truth- 
ful record of his life can not fail to see it. From the 
manger-cradle to the cross of agony and death, his 
purity and holiness surround him like a halo of 
glory ; and we do not wonder at the declaration of 
Judas, when, flinging from his burning palm the 
thirty pieces of silver, he exclaimed, " I have be- 
trayed the innocent blood." 

But Christ is God. He has not, nor can he have 
a virtue, a grace, a perfection, which is not shared 
alike with the other persons of the Deity. The 
holiness of Christ, then, proves and manifests, beyond 
question, the holestess of the Godhead. So, 

5. This perfection of Deity is clearly exhibited in 
the demands of the Gospel. 

Those demands are well known. From God's first 
utterances, in Genesis, to the closing declarations in 
the Revelation, but one voice is heard : " Be ye holy, 
for I am holy." " Be ye perfect, as your Father in 
heaven is perfect." " Walk before me, and be thou 



FOR EAR TIIL T FIRESIDES. 3^3 

perfect," said God to Abraham, " for I am the 
Almighty God." The one great demand of Scrip- 
ture, then, is for holiness, purity, sanctijication, 
perfection. Now, would other than a perfect being 
make such a demand ? Did you ever hear an earthly 
parent making this demand of his child ? or a husband 
of a wife ? or a king of his subjects ? No, no ; the 
absurdity would be too apparent. It could not be 
done. And yet we ask that those with whom we 
associate be as good as ourselves. This is all God 
does. " You are to dwell with me," he says, " eter- 
nally. I am to take you to myself; but you must 
become like me to be with me. Purity can only dwell 
with purity — holiness with holiness — perfection with 
perfection.' 1 '' Do you not see, then, that this demand, 
every where urged in Scripture, for holiness in order 
to heaven and intercourse with God, proves the holi- 
ness of him who demands it ? If God had been an 
imperfect being, a lower standard of excellence would 
have answered. We could not ask for perfection in 
those with whom we are to associate, for we are not 
perfect ourselves ; God, however, could but demand 
that in this we be like him. 

6. Then, too, the holiness of God is strikingly dis- 
played in the sufferings and death of Christ; as man's 
atoning Saviour. ■ 

It is safe to say, that if God had not been a Being 
of infiuite holiness, some other means would have 
been devised through which to secure man's recon- 
ciliation to himself, than by the agonies and death 
of his only begotten and well-beloved Son. A being 



3$4 



HE A VENL T LIGHT 



whose holiness was not absolute would have looked 
upon the sin of man with a somewhat lenient eye, 
and so regarding it, would have devised some means 
through which an atonement could be made for it, 
which would not have involved. a sacrifice so costly 
as the death of his own Son. But it was needful 
that Christ should die. He was the Lamb set apart 
for this sacrifice from before the foundation of the 
world. He was " delivered by the determinate coun- 
sel and foreknowledge of God," to be crucified and 
slain. " It must needs be that Christ die," that man, 
the guilty rebel, might be reconciled to God. To 
make a sacrifice so costly, God was unquestionably 
prompted by his immaculate holiness. Sin must be 
atoned for. Holiness demanded a full and perfect 
sacrifice. Such was found alone in the life-blood of 
the only begotten Son of God. 

The touching story of the life-work and dying 
agonies of the Lord Jesus Christ, then, is but a pre- 
sentation in one form of the great truth of Scrip- 
ture, that " our God is of purer eyes than to behold 
evil," and every pang of Christ upon the cross is but 
another way of publishing to the world the cry of 
the angels and archangels before the throne — " Holy, 
holy, holy art thou, Lord God Almighty." Every 
look we take at Calvary and its struggling burden 
is but a new view of the holiness of Him with whom 
we have to do ; and every time we catch the sound 
of that terrible cry, " My God, my God, why hast 
thou forsaken me ?" we have a renewed attestation, 
that absolute purity stands by with her balances, 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 365 

crying, " Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." 
Calvary, with its quaking brow, its solemn pageant, 
and its undying lessons, speaks a language touching 
the holiness of God which can not be ignored. 

And now, in concluding this chapter, several 
thoughts of great solemnity force themselves upon 
us. And, 

1. Is it true that this great God of whom we have 
spoken is not only infinite, eternal, and unchange- 
able, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, but 
is he possessed also of absolute holiness? Do we, 
then, stand every day, every hour, every moment, in 
the presence of One who is pure — who can not look 
upon the least sin but with the utmost loathing and 
disgust ? What a guard, then, should we place upon 
our life ! How should we watch every thought, pur- 
pose, word, and act ! How careful should we be lest 
we bring down upon ourselves, by carelessness, by 
negligence, or by positive transgressions, his swift and 
terrific judgments ! Let every reader remember 
that this God is not only holy, and therefore pos- 
sessed of an intense abhorrence of all sin, but that 
he is also almighty, and fully able to punish for every 
violation of his law. Solemn thought ! Let all be- 
ware ! Then, 

2. Let it not be forgotten that the scheme of re- 
demption through Christ is just what sinners need, 
who stand continually in the presence of a holy God. 
That eye, so keen to discern the slightest stains of 
sin — to detect the faintest traces of corruption in 
the soul, can never find holiness enough and purity 



366 HEAVENLY LIGHT, ETC. 

enough in vile, sinful man, to pronounce him entitled 
thereby to heaven. But in the scheme of Redemp- 
tion, devised in eternity and revealed in Scripture, 
God looks upon us in Christ — he sees us in the face 
of his Anointed. Just as no man dared to enter the 
most holy place, under the Old Testament dispen- 
sation, but the High Priest, and he only when puri- 
fied and cleansed, and clothed in his beautiful and 
costly priestly garments, so we can come to God 
and hope for pardon only in Jesus Christ, the great 
High Priest of our salvation. Looking upon him, 
God sees " no iniquity in Jacob, and no perverseness 
in Israel." Oh, what a blessedness to be enabled to 
hide ourselves in Christ ! 

3. Then, lastly, while the holiness of God forbids 
our coming rashly, and in our own name, into his 
presence, it yet encourages us to come in the way of 
his own appointment. Having promised to save us 
in Christ, God is too holy not to fulfill his promise. 
His holiness is a pledge and guarantee of his faith- 
fulness. His rectitude is such that he will never dis- 
appoint those who come to him pleading his own 
promise to save the soul through the peace-speaking 
blood of the Lamb. Test this rectitude, dear reader ; 
prove this fidelity of God to his promise, and you 
will be saved : 

"Foe God so loved the woeld that he 

GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN Son, THAT WHOSOEVEE 
BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PEEISH, BUT HAVE 

EVERLASTING LIFE." 



CHAPTER XXII. 



"The thunders of his hand 

Keep the wide world in awe. 
His wrath and justice stand 
To guard his holy law ; 
And where his love resolves to bless, 
His truth confirms and seals the grace." 



'Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne." — Psalm 

lxxxix. 14. 



Attention is invited, in this chapter, to one of the 
Divine perfections, the contemplation of which must 
ever awaken the liveliest interest in every thoughtful 
mind. No person can lay claim to any degree of 
religious sensibility, who has not reflected, with the 
profoundest emotions, upon the 

JUSTICE OF GOD. 

Whatever may be the interest felt in his other 
attributes, and with whatever emotions and feelings 
they may be contemplated, here is one which can not 
it would seem, be the subject of reflection, without 
producing sentiments of the deepest awe and rever- 
ence. Let the prayer of the reader, as he ponders 
the great theme of God's justice, ascend for Divine 



3^8 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

guidance, that impressions of such a character be 
made upon him, that God's glory may be promoted 
in the sanctification and salvation of his soul. 

In entering upon this discussion, attention is 
invited, 

1. To the question, What is the justice of Godf 

In answering this question, it may be remarked 
that God's justice is that disposition which renders 
him infinitely righteous and equitable in himself, and 
which secures, always and under all circumstances, the 
exercise of the most exact and unbending equity and 
righteousness in all his dealings with, and treatment 
of, his creatures. 

If this definition be correct, we see that God is 
just or righteous in himself ; that this is an essential 
property of his nature ; that, were he not just, had 
he not this perfection, he would not be God. Like 
infinity, eternity, and unchangeableness, knowledge, 
wisdom, power, and holiness, this attribute of justice 
belongs to God, as a necesary element in his character. 
No man can form a scriptural and truthful concep- 
tion of Jehovah without taking into the account this 
property of his being. With the same reason, might 
one hope to form a true conception of water, and 
leave out of his mind the idea that it is a liquid ; 
or of gold, and not remember that it has weight. 
As well form a conception of a human being, and 
not admit the idea of his intelligence ; or of an angel, 
without a recognition of his spirituality. And yet, 
it is a well known fact, that there are not wanting 
those whose ideas of God lack this essential element. 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 369 

They banish, or at least strive to banish, the thought 
of his justice. His goodness, mercy, truth, faithful- 
ness, and love, they are ever ready to extol. They 
are loud in their praises of his compassion, and sym- 
pathy, and benevolence. They fully accord to him 
these, as essential qualities of his nature ; but the 
moment you speak of his justice, they shrink back 
in dismay. 

That the Scriptures give no countenance to this 
partial, and hence defective and erroneous, conception 
of the Divine character, can be demonstrated by the 
most superficial acquaintance with its pages. Every 
where, the justice or righteousness of God — for these 
two words designate the same quality of the Divine 
nature — is represented as equally essential to God's 
being as any other of his perfections. Thus we read, 
"just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints;" 
and " true and righteous are thy judgments, Lord 
God Almighty." Here, justice and truth — two of 
God's perfections — are named in immediate connec- 
tion. Truth, it will be admitted by all, is an essential 
attribute of Deity ; by what logic, then, will the 
other perfection named in the same connection, and 
placed, evidently by inspiration, upon the same basis, 
be cast out as something not necessarily of the 
Divine nature ? The same conjunction of attributes 
is seen in the frequent declarations of the Psalms, 
such as, " The Lord is true and righteous altogether." 
" Gracious is the Lord, and righteous ; yea, our God 
is merciful." " The Lord is righteous in all his ways, 
and holy in all his works." The reader will see at a 
24 



37° HE A VENL r LIGHT 

glance that there is no distinction whatever made in 
the mention of these qualities. The mercy, the 
holiness, the graciousness of Jehovah are essential 
attributes of his character. Without these, he would 
not be God. And yet, his righteousness or justice is 
named in the same manner precisely that these other 
qualities are. Who, then, will say that justice is not 
as truly essential to the perfection of the Divine 
nature as mercy or love ? 

We have, however, two other very remarkable 
passages found in the New Testament Scriptures, 
which, as it would appear, ought to be conclusive 
upon this point. One is the declaration of the 
beloved John, in which he says that " if we confess 
par sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our 
sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 
John i. 9.) No one will refuse to accept the teaching 
of this text touching the " faithfulness " of God. 
This first named attribute will not be denied him ; 
all will cheerfully concede it as a perfection rightly 
ascribed to him in his word. How bold that temerity, 
then, and how naked that audacity, which would 
admit the "faithfulness" and deny the "justice" 
when they have been coupled in the same expression. 
We may well say of this, as has been said of the 
holy relationship of marriage, What God hath joined, 
let not man put asunder. 

The other passage is found in that remarkable 
prayer of Christ, as recorded in the 17th chapter of 
John's Gospel, in which the Saviour makes use of the 
language, " O righteous Father," in his appeal to God 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. Zl l 

as a God of love. Here, Christ ascribes to him the 
attribute of righteousness or justice, while in the 
same breath he speaks of the love which the Father 
had toward him before the foundation of the world. 
Surely, it will be difficult — nay, impossible — for 
those who hold to God's essential faithfulness and 
love, and yet deny his essential justice, to account for 
the remarkable conjunction of these attributes in 
the same breath. But, 

2. We have stated, not only that God's justice is 
an attribute essential to his being, but also that its 
possession secures always, and under all circumstances, 
absolute equity in his dealings with, and treatment of 
his creatwes. 

As God is holy he can not have an unholy thought, 
purpose, or desire ; nor can he perform an unholy 
action. So, as he is just, all his thoughts, purposes, 
desires, and actions, must be most equitable and 
right. As being infinitely wise, all that he does 
demonstrates his wisdom ; and as being infinitely poio- 
erful, all that he does demonstrates his might/ so 
being infinitely just, all that he may do, reveals his 
justice and equity. He can no more do an unjust 
thiug, than he can perform an unwise thing ; he can 
no more violate a principle of equity, than he can a 
principle of mercy. Indeed, an unjust act, on the 
part of God, would be the sacrifice of every moral 
attribute of his nature. Such an act could neither be 
wise, nor faithful, nor loving, nor merciful, nor good. 
An unjust act would be a simple exercise of unre- 



3 7 2 HE A VBNL r LIGHT 

strained power, having no regard to holiness. Of 
this, of course, God could not be guilty. 

With the above statements, men will usually con- 
cur so long as you confine your consideration of this 
attribute to its more general manifestations. If you 
speak in a general way of God's justice and equity, 
little objection will be made. But when you under- 
take to bring the subject home to the every day life 
of man ; when you speak of God's absolute and 
unbending equity in its relations to maris condition 
before his Maker, and to his conduct, tried by the 
standard of a perfect law ; then you witness the 
exhibition of the most extraordinary unwillingness to 
concede any thing. Why is this ? Why should men 
be any more unwilling to admit that God is just, and 
that he must display his equity in treating with them, 
than to admit that he is merciful, compassionate, and 
kind ? As a general thing, there is no difficulty in 
obtaining the assent of mankind to the proposition 
that God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, omnip-. 
otent, omniscient, and omnipresent. Why, then, should 
this other perfection be altogether denied to him, or 
its possession only partially and grudgingly conceded 
the moment it is shown to have a relation to human 
conduct ? Alas ! we need not ask these questions. 
If man were not a sinner, he would not shrink as he 
does at this point. He does not fear to contemplate 
the fact that God's love has a relation to him most 
intimate and most constant ; nor that Jehovah, as a 
God of mercy and compassion, has to do with him 
every moment of his existence. He does not shrink 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 373 

from contact with God in these aspects of his charac- 
ter. But justice punishes sin. The guilty can nut 
stand before a God of absolute equity. The un- 
righteous and corrupt can not endure the scrutiny 
of a being who can not look upon sin without the 
severest condemnation. This is why the effort has 
been so persistently made to deny to God this attri- 
bute so essential to his perfection. 

3. This attribute of the Almighty, then, in its 
application to intelligent and accountable beings, 
may be contemplated in a twofold aspect : 

1. As exercising a righteous control over the whole 
human family in their relations to each other. It 
extends to nations, in their intercourse with sister 
nations, to cities and communities, in their conduct 
towards one another, and in their treatment of the 
persons who compose them ; to families — to fathers 
and mothers, and sons and daughters, in their 
deportment toward each other ; and to all indi- 
viduals of the human family in all ages, in all 
the matters which relate to their conduct towards 
their fellow-men. The justice of God, like his 
omniscience, is every where. All the acts of the 
human family, in their intercourse with each other 
— as superiors, inferiors, or equals, as rulers, and 
ruled, as high and low, rich and poor, husbands 
and wives, parents and children, masters and ser- 
vants — are within the purview of this wondrous 
perfection. God's justice prompts him to the exer- 
cise of the strictest discipline among men, in accord- 
ance with their conduct towards each other. No 



374 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

king is so powerful, no emperor so exalted, no ruler 
so niiglit}^, but that his every act, good or bad, is 
noted ; and, in strict equity, receives the award due 
to merit or demerit. The conduct of the subjects, 
also — of the ruled as well as the rulers, of the peo- 
ple as well as the President or the prince — is the 
subject of God's righteous supervision. No man can 
adjudge that he is so low, so obscure, so humble, so 
insignificant, that infinite justice will not reach him. 
As the atmosphere surrounds and covers and touches 
every material thing on earth, so God's equity 
reaches to every soul, and has cognizance of the 
moral bearings of every act between man and man. 
But — 

2. This infinite justice is to be contemplated, as 
viewing every act of man in its relations to Deity. 
The theater of its discipline is not only in the direc- 
tion of our conduct toward our fellow-men, but also 
includes our acts as they have reference to our 
Maker. Man is considered by it, as having not only 
an earth-life, with all its multiplied and varied rela- 
tions and duties, but as having also a spiritual and 
eternal life ; and justice demands that he should 
live with a wise reference to his God, as well as with 
regard to his fellow-men. The revealed law of God, 
of which Divine justice is the custodian and guar- 
dian, has its two-fold bearings. It contains both our 
duty to God, and our duty to man ; and for a failure 
to comply with either, or for a direct violation of 
either, justice will hold every human being account- 
able. 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 375 

Now, while most men in a Christian land readily 
recognize the fact that, in respect to maris relations 
to Ms fellow-man, we have a theater in which the 
strictest justice should be displayed — while they 
would regard it as most disastrous, if, under a moral 
government, thieves and robbers, and extortion- 
ers and murderers should go unpunished — still 
they are oftentimes unwilling to admit that they 
themselves should be held by justice to a strict 
accountability in their relations to God.- Justice, they 
admit to be a good thing ; nay, a necessary thing, 
where man is concerned with man — where the crea- 
ture has to do with the creature / but they seem to 
think, and oftentimes do not hesitate to say, that for 
God to hold them responsible for any neglect or 
violation of their duties to him, would be unjust and 
tyrannical. If, by a series of undeniable providences, 
the guilt of the murderer is at length detected, and 
the culprit, reeking with the blood of his victim, is 
brought to the gallows, all men of right feelings 
approve the result, and applaud that exhibition of 
righteous retribution which has not allowed the 
guilty to escape ; but if a series of undeniable provi- 
dences befall an individual or a family, how hard is 
it to induce the world to believe that Divine justice 
is applying the scourge for some neglect of duty to 
God ; some failure to honor him " in whom we live, 
and move, and have our being." And yet it can not 
be denied that our obligations are two-fold, and 
relate both to God and man ; that if it is right, and 
proper, and necessary, as all admit, for infinite justice 



37*> HEA VENL T LIGHT 

to recognize and punish offences of the one kind, 
then is it equally rigid, and proper, and necessary, 
that offences of the other kind should be recognized 
and punished. Nay, more ; if we are bound, both to 
our fellow-men and to God, by duty, then a violation 
of the obligation under which we rest to God is 
deserving of an immeasurably greater punishment, 
as God is infinitely greater than man. Reason herself 
declares that the more high and holy, the more pure, 
and good, and beneficent, the being whose rights and 
prerogatives we invade, whose commands we trample 
upon, and whose honor we despise — the more guilty 
we are, and the more deserving of punishment. Once 
admit — what can not be successfully denied — that 
we owe love, reverence, obedience, and worship, to 
God ; that it is our bounden duty to love him with all 
our heart, soul, mind, and strength — then a violation, 
or neglect, or failure here, becomes an offense so grave 
that infinite justice can not overlook it. The man 
who is guilty here, and remains in guilt, must be 
punished. 

4. While, then, it is clear, as we conceive, that 
justice has the entire review of man's relations, both 
in their higher and lower conditions ; both in 
respect to the duties to God and to man, yet we 
readily admit that there are questions which continu- 
ally arise, touching this subject, which are not so 
easily answered. For instance, it has been asked, 

1. Hoiu can God be possessed of this attribute, and 
yet allow the wicked to triumph over the righteous ; to 
go on, year after year, in the enjoyment of their 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 377 

wealth and honors, while the child of God is trampled 
in the dust and made to bear the heaviest burdens ? 
This thought once troubled David. He could, at 
first, see neither goodness nor equity in this. But he 
was permitted, at length, to behold the miserable end 
of the ungodly. Going into the sanctuary, the diffi- 
culty was removed. He saw that all their wealth, 
and honors, and dignities, did not save them, while 
the trials and afflictions of the godly, were the means 
of securing their eternal felicity. The truth is, that in 
many respects, the justice of God can not be clearly 
seen until the end of all things is reached. We must 
wait until we stand at the bar of God, and mark the 
awards of the last day, before we can pronounce upon 
these great questions. This is not the only class of 
mysteries too dark to be fully read by the light of 
time. Then, 

2. It is again often asked, how can God be infi- 
nitely just, and yet punish man for not keeping his 
law, when it is well knoivn that he has not the ability, 
of himself, to keep it perfectly ? 

Perhaps it will absolve God from the charge of 
injustice here, if it is remembered, that as man came 
from the hand of his Maker, he had power to keep the 
law / that God did not take this power from him, 
but that man himself madly cast it away. Shall a 
perfect God, then, abate one iota of his demands ? 
If one owes his friend a thousand dollars, and, instead 
of paying the debt, gambles aivay the money, is the 
friend debwred forever from asking payment ? Must 
God abate his demands because, by our own act, we 



3 7^ HEA VENL r LIGHT, 

have lost ability to keep his law ? Must lie say, 
" you can no longer obey ; therefore, I can in justice 
no longer hold you responsible ?" No ; this would 
not be true. Justice must yet demand of the creature 
perfect obedience, let the consequences to man be 
what they may. 

3. The great difficulty, however, in this connection, 
is that which some experience in admitting that 
God can he just, and yet punish man eternally for his 
sins. The trouble with these, is not that there 
should be punishment, but that it should endure for 
ever. We have not the space here, nor is this the 
place to enter upon a minute investigation of this 
difficulty. It is, however, to be considered, that if 
future punishment is admitted at all, the eternity of 
it must he conceded. It can not be shown, either by 
sound logic, or by the word of God, that there is, or 
ever will be, a single reforming agent, or instrumen- 
tality, in hell. If, then, the soul ever passes into 
torment, it can never escape. Whatever difficulty, 
then, may be encountered here, this fact must for 
ever stare us in the face : The Holy Ghost never 
convinces nor converts; the hlood of Jesus never 
cleanses from sin — in hell! 

But further. This punishment must be eternal, 
inasmuch as the guilt for which it is inflicted is 
infinite. The finite punishment of a finite creature 
w r ill never atone for an infinite crime. That the 
guilt of the sinner is infinite, is due to the fact already 
stated, that he violates the laws of an infinitely holy 
God. Justice, therefore, can admit of nothing less, 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 379 

in the way of punishment, than an infinity, and an 
infinite punishment requires an eternity for its inflic- 
tion. And now, if to these considerations any thing 
additional is required, let it be found in the plain, 
positive, and unequivocal language of Scripture : 
" These shall go away into everlasting punishment," 
" where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not 
quenched," and where " the smoke of their torment 
ascendeth up for ever and ever." 

Let this suffice. Behold the terrible sentence of 
infinite justice upon those who reject the offers -of 
mercy made in Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Two thoughts claim our attention in conclusion : 

1. It is a most solemn consideration that every 
soul that sins, is resting under the scrutiny of this 
inflexible justice. Whether we wish it or not ; 
whether agreeable or disagreeable, yet thus it is. 
This wonderful attribute has but one office. It 
looks upon a holy law and then upon the sinner's 
life, and marking the vast, the infinite discrepancy 
between them, it demands satisfaction. In vain does 
the sinner attempt this. He has no adequate satis- 
faction to give. He can not atone for himself. He 
looks in vain upon the right hand and the left ; there 
is no human eye to pity, no human arm to save. 
Must justice, then, demand the eternal punishment 
due to sin ? Must eternal death be inflicted upon 
every soul \ O no ! 

2. Behold, one appears as the Lamb slain from 
before the foundation of the world. He lifts his 
voice, and cries, in tones of authority, "Deliver, 



3 8o HE A VENL Y LIGHT, ETC. 

deliver from going down to the pit ; I nave found a 
ransom." He throws his hands aloft, and lo ! they 
bear the print of the nails. He casts aside a bloody- 
vestment, and behold, in a gaping wound in his side, 
is revealed a fountain of atoning blood. He points to 
his brow, and from a score of orifices, trickle the pure 
currents which alone can cleanse the soul from guilt. 
" Look upon me," he cries, " and live. I have met 
the demands of this inexorable justice in your room 
and stead. I have received that punishment which 
was due to you. Come and believe in me ; rely upon 
my mercy ; trust my grace ; seek the cleansing 
efficacy of my blood, and you are safe. Justice can 
ask no more than what I have rendered. Look unto 
me, then, and be ye saved." Who, O who can resist 
that cry ? Who can turn a deaf ear to such an 
entreaty % Eeader, can you ? 

" See in the Saviour's dying blood 

Life, health, and bliss, abundant flow; 
'Tis only this dear sacred flood 

Can ease thy pain, and heal thy woe." 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



" O all-sufficient ! all beneficent! 
Thou God of goodness and of glory hear 1 
Thou who resigned humility, upholdest 
E'en as the florist props the drooping rose, 
But quellest tyrannic pride with peerless power, 
E'en as the tempest rives the stubborn oak ; 
Bless all mankind, and bring them, in the end, 
To heaven, to immortality, and Thee." — C. Smart. 

"O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness." — Psalm cvii. 8. 



Steange as it may appear, the more self-evident a 
proposition is, the more difficult we find it to reason 
upon it. Little can be said upon the problem that 
two and two make four, simply because the matter 
is too plain to admit of doubt or discussion. No 
argument is demanded to prove that the sun shines 
by day ; that the tides rise and fall ; that the earth 
revolves upon its axis ; and that all men must 
die. These are questions which admit of no dispute. 
To deny them would be accounted an evidence of 
insanity ; to undertake to prove them, would be a 
work of supererogation. 

Thus it is, precisely, with the Divine attribute of 
which we treat in this chapter. 



3^2 HBA VENL T LIGHT 

THE GOODNESS OE GOD 

is so generally admitted, that to assert it, is very 
much like saying that the sun shines, that the rivers 
flow, and that the seasons change ; and to deny this 
attribute to God, would he to convict one's self of a 
stupidity almost brutal. It is not our purpose, 
therefore, to undertake to prove that God is good. 
We wish to define this perfection ; to designate some 
of the ways in which it is displayed among men, and 
then defend it against some of the misapprehensions 
which exist concerning it. And, 

1. How may we define the goodness of God? We 
answer, that this is that perfection of the Divine 
nature which renders God infinitely merciful, benevo- 
lent, loving, and gracious, in himself, and in all his 
manifestations to his creatures. But under this gen- 
eral term, goodness, may be included all that is 
expressed by grace, mercy, kindfiess, pity, compassion, 
forbearance, patience, long-suffering, and love. It is 
a term, then, as will be readily perceived, which is 
very comprehensive. No other attribute of Deity is 
set forth under so many different appellations in the 
Word of God ; none is more frequently mentioned 
as worthy the admiration of men and of angels. 
When it is affirmed that " the mercy of God is over 
all his works," that " as a father pitieth his children, 
so the Lord pitieth them that fear him," that he 
is " long-suffering and slow to anger," that he is 
" gracious," that he is " full of compassion," that 
the remission of sin is secured through his " forbear- 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 3^3 

ance," and that " God is love," we understand by all 
these varied expressions and terms, that this one 
glorious perfection is represented, and that these are 
only so many phases — if we may so speak — of the 
one attribute of goodness. It may not be possible 
to point out the special shades of meaning which 
distinguish all these various terms ; and yet, that 
each has its peculiar signification, we may readily 
infer. The goodness of God displays itself in 
kindness and forbearance, even to the sinful and 
undeserving. His mercy and grace are, in general, 
the displays of goodness to those who, seeing their 
sins, are disposed to turn from them unto God. His 
pity and compassion are the displays of goodness to 
the weak and suffering, while " love " has respect to 
the perishing, and may be regarded as Divine good- 
ness enlisted in the great work of redeeming souls 
from hell. Thus it is used in the oft-quoted passage, 
" God so loved the world, that he gave his only 
begotten Son, that whosoever belie veth in him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life." 

A careful consideration of the import of the 
various terms by which the Divine goodness displays 
itself, will aid us in arriving at a clear understanding 
of the operations of this precious attribute. To 
say that God is good, is at the same time, and in 
one word, to assert his mercy ; his grace ; his pity ; 
his compassion ; his kindness ; his forbearance ; his 
patience ; his long-suffering ; and his love. Now, 
each of these terms designates a property of Deity 
necessary to his perfection ; for if God were not long- 



3 84 HEA VENL T LIGHT 

suffering, forbearing, pitiful, loving, and kind, there 
certainly would be wanting that in his character 
which our reason assures us should be possessed by 
the Moral Governor of the universe. Even the 
heathen arrived at such an idea of the Supreme 
Being, that while degrading him in many other 
particulars, they yet were led to speak of him as the 
" Best," as well as " the Greatest of beings." And 
all this God is in himself. All this he would have 
been had neither men nor angels been created ; all 
this belongs as truly and as necessarily to the Divine 
nature and essence, as his eternity, infinity, or un- 
changeableness. Having thus defined this perfection, 
we are now prepared to consider, 

II. Some of the ways in which it is displayed. 
And here a field so wide, so boundless, indeed, opens 
up before us, that we hardly dare venture upon it. 
If we consider the very first movement of the Divine 
mind of which we have any knowledge, namely, the 
purpose formed in eternity to redeem a ruined world 
by atoning mercy in Jesus Christ, we discover that 
Divine goodness in that peculiar manifestation of it 
known as love, was then, and thus early, and thus 
signally, displayed. If we consider the first Divine 
act, of which we know any thing, namely, the 
creation of the angels, we are at no loss to detect a 
most striking exhibition of this attribute. These 
glorious beings were formed with perfectly holy 
natures, and were hence designed by the Divine 
goodness to be, in and of themselves, perfectly 
happy ; and then being created as the instruments 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 385 

of happiness to others, the love, and mercy, and 
kindness of their Creator, was still further exhibited, 
for, says the Apostle, "Are they not all ministering 
spirits' sent forth to minister for them, who shall 
be heirs of salvation V Tracing the presence of 
design in creation, and marking how every thing 
is characterized by a wonderful adaptation to some 
useful purpose ; noticing, as we must, that every 
thing has a place to fill, and an end to subserve, and 
that this end is some beneficent one, and this place 
some good and useful one, we can come to no other 
conclusion, than that the Author of Creation is a 
being of infinite goodness. All that we can discover 
objects to be in themselves, and all that we find 
them to be in the design or end which they subserve, 
only tends more and more to develop the goodness 
of their Creator. The ten thousand objects upon 
every hand, which are manifestly designed to impart 
happiness both to animals and man ; the food and 
drink which when in health we always receive with 
pleasure, the varied sights which please the eye, and 
the sounds which delight the ear, the rest of sleep, 
and the sweets of society and companionship — all 
this being planned, devised, and ordained by God 
himself, with the manifest purpose of securing the 
comfort and enhancing the bliss of his creatures — 
clearly demonstrates his goodness. Says Dr. Paley, 
when speaking upon this subject, " If God had 
wished our misery, he might have made sure of his 
purpose by forming our senses to be so many sores 
and pains to us, as they are now instruments of 

25 



3 86 HE A VENL r LIGHT 

gratification and enjoyment ; or by placing us amidst 
objects so ill suited to our perceptions as to have 
continually offended us, instead of ministering to our 
refreshment and delight. He might have made, for 
example, every thing we tasted, bitter ; every thing 
we saw, loathsome ; every thing we touched, a sting ; 
every smell, a stench ; and every sound, a discord." 
This, however, he has not done ; but the reverse. 
He has so adjusted our organs and faculties to the 
objects found around us in the material world, and 
has so adapted them, in turn, to our state as physical 
and spiritual beings, that pleasure, and not pain, 
happiness, and not misery, joy, and not anguish, is 
the result. In looking forth upon all things, in the 
light of the thought here presented, we have not the 
least hesitation in affirming that we have here such 
a signal display of the Divine goodness, that none 
but he who is resolved not to see, can fail to be 
convinced. 

And then, is it necessary that we should direct 
attention to the exhibitions of this perfection, as 
found in the wondrous provision made for the suste- 
nance of all creatures ? A being without goodness, 
as a necessary quality of his nature, would be indif- 
ferent touching the support of the lower orders of 
existence. But behold ! what care is every where 
displayed throughout the whole universe in provid- 
ing food and covering for man and beast ! Look at 
the myriads of existences, large and small, in the 
animal creation. The air, the waters, and the earth 
are filled with them ; and yet, as respects them all, 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 3^7 

we can say to God, as did the Psalmist, " The eyes 
of all wait upon thee, and thou givest them their 
meat in due season. Thou openest thy hand, and 
satisfiest the desire of every living thing." From 
the invisible animalcule revealed to us as a veri- 
table existence only by the most powerful micro- 
scopes, up through all the grades of animal being to 
the whale of the ocean, and to the rhinoceros and 
elephant of the land, we behold the most ample and 
careful provision made for their sustenance by Him 
who at the first spake them into being. What a 
display of infinite goodness, to provide with such an 
amplitude of bounty for all these ! 

The views, however, thus far presented are among 
the lowest we can take of this subject, and are the 
least worthy of our consideration. "We will not secure 
our highest and best conceptions of this attribute of 
our Heavenly Father by confining our observation 
to the animal creation, or to man in his earthly and 
physical relations. In the intellectual and moral 
natures bestowed upon man ; in the future and eternal 
existence opened up before him ; in the pleasure which 
he can now experience as a spiritual being ; in the 
contemplation of the character of his Creator ; in the 
anticipation of a blissful immortalitj 7 beyond the 
grave ; and, above all, in the enjoyment of the un- 
speakable blessedness of a full, free, and unmerited 
pardon of all sin, through the mercy of God in 
Christ — here and in this direction do we find the 
highest tokens of our merciful Father's infinite good- 
ness. 



3^8 HEA VENL T LIGHT 

It can not be denied, that had God chosen, he 
might have left man, after the fall, in his estate of 
sin and misery. He was under no obligation to re- 
deem him. Had he seen fit to leave him just as the 
apostacy left him, not a soul could have complained. 
In that case Adam would have been the progenitor 
of a race resting under a just and righteous sentence 
of eternal death, and as each human being came 
into existence, another soul would be added to that 
mournful procession, marching across the ages to 
a hopeless, rayless perdition. But the goodness of 
God had something in store for man brighter and 
better than this. Through the infinite compassion 
of a being matchless in goodness, a ra} T of hope 
beamed out and cast its light upon the dark waves 
of moral and spiritual desolation and death. He 
spake peace to the perishing. He announced the 
coming Saviour. He displayed his infinite goodness 
by giving Christ to the cross. He brought for man 
life and immortality to light. He sent the Holy Ghost 
to convince of sin, to seal salvation to hard and 
stony hearts, to lead to Jesus, to cleanse and sanctify 
the soul, and to equip it with all its needed spiritual 
garniture for the skies. Here and in this direction 
do we see the most sublime — the culminating exhi- 
bition of Infinite Goodness. To man, as an immortal 
being, as endowed with undying capacities and pow- 
ers as charged with eternal interest, as having rela- 
tions extending through a limitless future, has there 
been an exhibition of mercy, grace and love, rich 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 389 

and full, and glorious beyond expression. "We can 
truly exclaim — 

" Thy goodness, Lord, our souls confess — 

Thy goodness we adore ; 
A spring whose blessings never fail, 

A sea without a shore : 
But chiefly thy compassion, Lord 

Is in the Gospel seen; 
There, like a sun, thy mercy shines 

Without a cloud between." 

Undeniable, however, as the goodness of God is, 
and innumerable as are the tokens of it on every 
hand, there are yet those who are fouud to question 
it. We are thus brought to consider the third point 
proposed, to wit : 

III. The objections urged against the Divine Good- 
ness. And, 

1. It is often said, "How can God be possessed 
of infinite goodness, and yet permit the existence of so 
many natural evils f" Sickness, disease and death, 
famine and pestilence, it is urged, continually prey 
upon the human family. Cold and heat, summer's 
drouth and winter's snows, the scorching rays of the 
sun, and the biting frosts, hold alternate sway. Be- 
hold, too, it is said, what desolation is wrought by 
the storm, the whirlwind, the tornado, the light- 
ning and the earthquake ? See the vessel out upon 
the ocean waves, freighted with precious souls, sink- 
ing before the gale, and bearing down with it, into 
one yawning grave, the young and the old, the 
righteous and the wicked, the sick and the well. 
" How," it is asked, " can all that we behold of nat- 



39° HE A VENL r LIGHT 

ural evil be reconciled with the idea of God's infinite 
goodness ?" 

There will not be a particle of difficulty in this 
matter if we remember that man is a sinner, that 
his attitude before God in this life is that of a 
being requiring discipline and chastisement, and that 
all the natural evils we witness in the universe are 
but so many rods by which God is in mercy chas- 
tising the world for its good. Indeed, these things 
which are called natural evils, so far from being im- 
peachments of God's goodness, are among the most 
signal proofs and attestations of it. If you were to 
see a father chastising his son for some palpable 
offence, would you infer that he was cruel or unkind ? 
Certainly not. Your inference would be the reverse. 
You would say that the parent desired the good of 
his boy ; that he was by these stripes seeking to save 
him. So if you should see the lawful authorities of 
the land active and vigilant in bringing culprits to 
justice — seeking faithfully to punish the guilty vio- 
lators of the law, would you say, would any right- 
minded man say, that this was an impeachment of the 
goodness of the authorities? Is not the inference 
just the reverse ? Is not that called a good govern- 
ment which punishes those who trample upon its 
laws? 

Thus you perceive that this objection has no force. 
Natural evils are but the stripes with which God vis- 
its, for their own good and the good of society, the 
culprits under his moral government. 

It has, however, been asked, 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 3 9 1 

2. Why has God permitted sin ? Why, being infi- 
nite in his power, has he allowed such a thing in his 
universe as moral evil, when it opens up the way for 
the existence of natural evil ? In answer to this we 
can only say, that the mere existence of moral evil 
is no impeachment of the goodness and mercy of 
God. Before we can assert that it is, we must show 
that God is the author of sin, which we can not do, 
and which the Bible distinctly denies. That God 
chose, in the exercise of his sovereignty, to create 
man a free moral agent, is most true ; and that man, 
in the exercise of his freedom, chose to sin, and to 
bring moral evil into the world, is also true. Why 
man was created free we know not, just as we know 
not why God chose to create man at all ; but having 
created him holy and pure, and having shown us in 
Scripture that upon man rests the responsibility of 
sinning, we are bound to exculpate God from all im- 
putations. His goodness, like every other attribute 
of his glorious nature, stands unimpeached. We 
have no more right to affirm that the goodness of 
God was impeached when moral evil was introduced 
into the world by man, than to say that his justice 
was impeached when Christ, a holy being, died for 
the unholy, or that his omnipotence was impeached 
in the massacre of St. Bartholomew's day. Some 
might ask, " How can God be just, when he allowed 
so unjust a thing as the death of Christ, his own 
Son V or " How can he be almighty, and permit the 
massacre of thousands of his true and humble fol- 
lowers, bv his and their bitter foes ?" The truth is, 



39 2 HEA VBNL r LIGHT 

God is just, and omnipotent, and good, notwithstand- 
ing all these seeming difficulties ; and when we come 
to look back upon the mysteries of the present dis- 
pensation from the heights of everlasting glory, we 
will see it, if not before. 

Two thoughts, in conclusion, press themselves upon 
us in the light of this discussion : 

1. Are we living as those should live who are the 
recipients of the constant tokens of Infinite Good- 
ness ? Do we remember as we should the source 
whence has flowed all our mercies, temporal and 
spiritual ? Do we realize that it is this God of infi- 
nite goodness who has crowned our life " with loving 
kindness and tender mercies?" How easy is it to 
forget the author of all the blessings daily and hourly 
flowing in upon our pathway, and to come at length 
to think of them as things to which we are somehow 
entitled! This, however, should never be. The 
heathen have their idols continually before them. 
They are placed in every prominent position in their 
houses. They rear them at the corners of the streets. 
They hang them up in their bed-chambers. They 
place them before them upon their tables and their 
mantels. They bear them with them when upon 
their journeys. These poor, darkened idolaters would 
not forget their gods of wood, of clay, of silver and 
of gold, for in their infatuation they ascribe to these 
the blessings of which they are the daily recipients. 
"Will the enlightened in Christian lands be less mind- 
ful of the true God, the real source of all good, than 
these idolaters are of the false ? Will we, who know 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 393 

the truth, allow ourselves to be outdone by these 
blinded, infatuated heathen ? God forbid ! Let us 
daily and hourly remember that our God is the source 
of every good and perfect gift, and seek at all times 
to realize that " in him we live, and move, and have 
our being." Then, 

2. It should never be forgotten, that the goodness 
of God is a continual demand upon us for our love 
and service. A bare recognition is something ; a 
grateful, affectionate recognition, is still more worthy 
the recipients of the Divine goodness ; but he ouly 
who is led, by a sense of the Divine mercy, to an 
acceptance of the offer of life and salvation through 
Jesus Christ our Lord, makes a true use of the riches 
of God's matchless love. It is safe to say, that God 
never bestows blessings upon his creatures, viewed 
merely as dwellers upon the earth. He has ever in 
view their eternal destiny. All his gifts, even tem- 
poral and physical, are designed to bring them to 
Christ. This is unquestionably the purport of Paul's 
inquiry of the Romans : " Or despisest thou the 
riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long- 
suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God 
leadeth thee to repentance." 

And, O reader ! if the goodness of God should not 
lead thee to repentance, what a fearful doom will be 
thine? AVhat madness to live the daily, hourly 
recipient of untold mercies; to have ten thousand 
enjoyments showered upon you ; to live in a land of 
Bibles ; in a land of Gospel light ; to have, of God's 
goodness, offered to you- the full forgiveness of all 



394 HE A VENL T LIGHT, E TC. 

your sins, and yet to live on, cold, impassive, sinful, 
trampling upon God's goodness, despising his mercies, 
contemning his love ! How justly worthy such con- 
duct, the severest judgments of the Almighty ! Be 
your own judge, and say what, after all this, should 
be your doom. Turn, then, to the Lord, and turn 
now, for 

" Behold, now is the accepted time ; behold, 
now is the day oe salvation." 






CHAPTEK XXIV. 



"But what is truth? 'Twas Pilate's question put 
To truth itself, that deigned him no reply. 
And wherefore? Will not God impart his light 
To them that ask it? Freely; 'tis his joy, 
His glory, and his nature, to impart. 
But to the proud, uncandid, insincere, 
Or negligent inquirer, not a spark." — Cowper. 

"A God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he." — Deut. 

xxxii. 4. 



We enter, in this chapter, upon the contemplation 
of the last of the Divine attributes. We have 
considered, in the preceding pages, God's infinity, 
eternity, unchangeableness, knowledge, wisdom, 
power, holiness, justice, and goodness ; and now 
there remains but his 

TEUTH 

to complete the glorious galaxy of Divine perfec- 
tions. 

In treating of this attribute we shall pursue much 
the same course we have already adopted in consid- 
ering the other perfections of Deity. We shall 
define, in the first place, its nature, and then consider 



39^ HEA VBNL T LIGHT 

the proof that it is indeed one of tlie divine attributes, 
closing with a notice of some of the objections urged 
against our view of the subject. 

I. What, then, are we to understand by Truth, 
as an attribute of the Divine .nature ? We answer 
that Truth is tlmt essential perfection of the Di- 
vine Being which renders him for ever and un- 
changeably averse to all that is false and deceptive, 
leading him always to speak the truth, to verify what- 
ever lie has spoken, and to require of his accountable 
creatures the truth in all their utterances and actions. 

This definition, as will be seen, embraces both the 
veracity and the faithfulness of God. God is true 
in the sense of being veracious. Whatever he affirms 
may be relied upon as most worthy of all credit. He 
can not lie. As well can he cease to be omnipotent, 
omniscient, omnipresent, just, holy, or good, as cease 
to be true. Veracity is an element so necessary in a 
Divine Being that we can not conceive of him as 
wanting it. Should this attribute of God be in one 
instance impeached, it would undermine all confidence 
and trust, and fill the universe with confusion and 
anarchy. So fully convinced were the sacred writers 
of this, that there is probably no perfection of the 
divine nature which is regarded with more reverence 
than God's truth, or vindicated with more earnest- 
ness and zeal. The intelligent reader will readily 
recall that outburst of holy warmth by an inspired 
apostle, "Let God be true, but every man a liar" As 
though he had said, " Let the whole world be con- 
victed of falsehood, of deception, of a want of vera- 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 397 

city, but let God be true. Shake not by word or 
thought the reliance of man in this divine attribute." 

Not only, however, do we understand by the Truth 
of God his veracity, there is also included in this his 
faithfulness. Whatever he utters, not only, is true 
and worthy of credit, and whatever Be does is not 
only in strict accordance with absolute truth, but he 
never forgets a promise to fulfill it — he never utters 
a threatening which he will not make good. If, in 
the language of Scripture, " the truth of the Lord 
endureth for ever," " his faithfulness is unto all gen- 
erations." 

This, then, is what we understand by the Truth 
of God. It includes both his veracity and his faith- 
fulness. He can utter nothing but that which is 
worthy of absolute reliance, and he can but remem- 
ber his words to verify them in the fulfillment of all 
that he has promised, and in all that he has threat- 
ened ; and as a necessary corollary from this, he must 
of necessity require truth and fidelity in his moral 
and accountable creatures. 

II. And now, how do we prove that this is indeed 
an attribute of the Divine nature? How do we know 
that God is true t 

To this we answer : 

1. That reason herself testifies to the truth of God, 
inasmuch as a want of this attribute implies the pres- 
ence of falsehood, duplicity and deception, and the 
presence of these implies a character so vile and base 
that all right-minded persons must shrink from the 
ascription of such a character to God. 



398 



HE A VENL r LIGHT 



If it were possible to think of God as merely want- 
ing in truth — if we could contemplate him as pre- 
senting in this respect merely a negative character — 
empty simply of veracity and faithfulness, there 
would, perhaps, in this view be less to shock the feel- 
ings and outrage the enlightened judgment; but 
when it is remembered that there can he no such 
negation in God, if he has not absolute truth to char- 
acterize him, then has he positive falsehood, duplicity 
and faithlessness. If he is not infinitely veracious 
and infinitely faithful, then is he filled with the op- 
posite of these glorious qualities. When we consider 
this we start back with horror, and cry, "Surely such 
a being can not be the God of the universe !" 

It is one of the most convincing proofs of the awful 
depths of degradation and moral darkness into which 
the human mind can sink, that even in Greece and 
Home, in the palmy days of their civilization, men 
could contemplate with complacency the writings 
of poets and philosophers, ascribing to their false 
deities the grossest duplicity and deceit. It was 
only because the minds of those peoples were sunken 
almost to the level of the brutes around them, that 
they did not see how utterly abhorrent to all just 
ideas of Deity were such conceptions. Enlightened 
reason, however, assures us that such a being can not 
be God. A want of truth is a defect so fatal — so 
radical — striking so directly at the foundations of 
all that is just and good and elevating — all that is 
lovely and pure, and desirable — that even nature 
herself exclaims against it. We want our God to be 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 3 99 

.one whom we can admire, love, respect and imitate ; 
we wish to twist, rely upon, and adore him. We wish 
to be able to point our children to him, and stimulate 
them to be as he is. These are among the fundamen- 
tal demands of an enlightened judgment. There is 
a cry heard in every human heart — a voice in every 
human soul for such a God as this ; and yet this de- 
mand must remain for ever unanswered — this cry for 
ever ascend in vain, if God is not a God of Truth ; 
for, wanting this perfection, all else that might be 
true of him would fail to inspire the least respect, 
love, admiration or reverence. No soul can rest with 
confidence upon any being convicted, or even justly 
suspected of duplicity. But, 

2. Keason assures us that our God must be a God 
of Truth, inasmuch as an intelligent oeing will never 
either violate veracity or faithfulness without a motive, 
and no motive could induce God to vavry in the slight- 
est degree from the truth. 

It is a well attested fact, that God has ever in view 
his own glory in all that he does or says. This mo- 
tive is ever before him, and he always acts upon it. 
Now, is it possible to conceive that falsehood could 
ever, by any possibility, promote the glory of God ? 
Could it ever, should God resort to it, advance his 
honor? This is simply impossible — it can not be. 
If, then, to be wanting in truth, and hence to abound 
in deceit, duplicity and lies, can never advance the 
glory of God, we can perceive that it will be for ever 
impossible for him to be other than true. He must 



4°° HEA VENL T LIGHT \ 

ever remain as lie now is, and as lie has ever been, 
the Ever-living and True God. 

3. But still further, if a want of this attribute 
could never advance the honor and glory of God, so 
neither could othei" than truth in God promote the 
happiness of his creatures. Whatever God has pur- 
posed touching his creatures, is in accordance with 
his own glory ; and all his purposes are consonant 
with his truth. Now, one of two things is certain ; 
God has either made a mistake in his purposes touch- 
ing man, or he has no need for other than truth in 
their fulfillment. In other words, if God's purposes, 
formed for the good of his creatures, are devised in 
wisdom, then has he no need to resort to deceit and 
falsehood in the fulfillment of them. A wise plan 
needs no subterfuges to promote it. It is only when 
blunders are made, or when persons have some ulterior 
end to subserve, that other than straight forward, 
true and honest courses are pursued. The purposes 
and plans of the Almighty, then, concerning his intel- 
ligent creatures being just, and true, and good, need 
nought but truth in their accomplishment. 

4. And then again, for God to resort to other 
than veracity and faithfulness in advancing his 
own glory and the good of man, implies that 
he is wanting in ability to carry out the purposes 
of his will in a way consonant with the great 
principles of right and truth. But this, reason says, 
can not be the case with God. Men vary from the 
truth, prevaricate, and in their weakness, turn aside 
from the right, violate strict veracity, and are faith- 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 40 1 

less to their pledges and promises, losing thus their 
own self-respect, the regard of their fellow-men, and 
the approbation of God, because they are prevented 
by unforeseen events, or by unexpected obstacles, from 
doing what they would. But God never meets with 
such obstacles. No events are to him unforeseen. 
All contingencies which could possibly occur, to the 
end of time, were present with him, when he devised 
all things in the counsels of eternity. He can, 
therefore, have no temptation ever to resort to 
any untruthful devices ; to any false or deceptive 
measures, in the fulfillment of his glorious purposes. 
The end was known to him from the beginning. He 
is independent of all possible adverse combinations 
and contingencies, and pursues forever one undeviat- 
ing, onward course, to the accomplishment of the 
high and holy ends he ever has in view. Hight 
reason, then, the enlightened judgment, declares that 
it is impossible for God to be other than a God 
of truth. 

II. But again. We argue the possession of this 
attribute by the Divine Being from what we know 
of the other attributes of his nature. 

We have already seen, in previous chapters, that 
God is wise, holy, just, and good. Now, these four 
attributes, to mention no others, render the truth of 
God a necessity. Wisdom, holiness, justice, and 
goodness, could never, even in man or angel, be made 
consonant with duplicity, falsehood, and faithlessness. 
Much less can this be the case with God. If he is 
wise, he must be truthful ; for no greater folly is 
26 



4° 2 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

found on earth than what is exhibited by the false 
and faithless. ■ So, too, if he is holy, he must be true, 
for falsehood is sin, and infinite holiness and sinful- 
ness can never exist in the same being. So neither 
can God be just nor good, and yet be faithless. The 
supposition can not for a moment be entertained, and 
we have no difficulty in perceiving that truth, in a 
being who is possessed of all other moral perfections, 
is a necessity. For God, then, who is wise, just, 
holy, and good, not to be true, is a moral impossibility. 
But, 

III. We have still other means, no less conclusive, 
of demonstrating the existence of this attribute of 
Deity. For six thousand years, God has, in one 
way and another, been in communication with earth. 
In thousands of instances has he spoken to man, 
through his chosen agents, and by his providences, 
and yet in all there has been a most signal exhibition 
of his unvarying veracity and faithfulness. In all 
the hundreds of prophecies uttered since the world 
began, God has never been convicted of asserting 
what was not strictly true. Of all the promises of 
his Word to his children, to those who have loved 
and served him, there can be but one record. The 
united voice of all who have tested his faithfulness, 
is that he is indeed a God of truth. 

We have, in preceding chapters, referred to the 

fulfillment of so many prophecies, in proof of the 

existence of other perfections of the Divine nature, 

^ that we need hardly do more, in this connection, 

than point to those remarks, and ask the reader to 



FOR EARTHLY FIRESIDES. 403 

consider their applicability to the point under discus- 
sion here. It may, however, be considered, in this 
connection, how, for two thousand years, God remem- 
bered his promise to Abraham, and how, during all 
the coldness, sinfulness, and defection of his descend- 
ants ; during all the glaring manifestations of their 
faithlessness ; God was true to his covenant engage- 
ments. He corrected them as a father for their 
rebellions ; he sent them into captivity for their 
idolatry ; and yet he did not cast them off, but con- 
tinued still to treat them as his covenant people. An 
exhibition of God's dealings by the Israelitish nation, 
during their whole history, could it be contemplated 
in detail, would only be one long and unbroken 
chapter, unfolding God's veracity and faithfulness. 

And then, as is well known, Christ was promised 
by God to our first parents in the garden of Eden. 
For long, long years, did the world await his coming. 
As;ain and again was it announced that he should 
come. Jacob foretold him, in the prediction, that 
" the scepter should not depart from Judah, nor a 
lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come." 
David sang of him ; and Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, 
Joel, and Malachi, gave forth the oft-repeated 
promise. Still he came not. Years rolled away ; 
generations followed each other into the past ; cen- 
tury after century, and age after age, came and went, 
and men began to say, " Where is the promise of his 
coming ? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things 
continue as they were from the beginning of the 
creation." But at length, in the fullness of time, and 



4°4 HE A VENL r LIGHT 

when four thousand years had flown, the seed of the 
woman made his appearance ; the promise was 
fulfilled, and the veracity of God was vindicated. 
The world saw, as it is expressed by Peter, that 
" With the Lord, one day is as a thousand years, and 
a thousand years as one day ;" and that though man 
may think the promise about to fail, still God will 
stand justified in the result. All his promises are 
sure. 

We have, also, an illustrious instance of God's 
faithfulness, in verifying that special promise which 
he has made to all who, in every age, believe in and 
accept of his Son. The blessedness of eternal life is 
promised to all who accept of Jesus of Nazareth, and 
rest upon him alone as the Saviour of their souls ; 
and never was there an instance, since Christianity 
was planted upon the earth, in which this promise 
was known to fail. Millions upon millions have 
tested it ; millions upon millions are this day living 
witnesses of God's faithfulness in verifying this gra- 
cious declaration of his lips. Ask a Christian if he 
has evidence that God is true, and his reply will be, 
" Yes, for he hath saved my soul ; he hath redeemed 
me according to his promise in Jesus Christ his 
Son." The child of God needs no better proof than 
this. God promised to redeem lost souls from hell. 
He placed upon record the gracious words, " Come 
unto me all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved." 
The Christian has tested the validity of this promise. 
He has cast himself upon God in Christ, and has 
found it not in vain. There is a God who heepeth 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 405 

covenant and verifies all his assurances to the children 
of men. But, 

IV. We might, did we deem it needful, appeal 
to the plain and repeated utterances of the Scriptures 
in proof of God's truth. Such passages as follows 
would be found iu point : " And the Lord passed by 
before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, 
merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant 
in goodness and truth." (Ex. xxxiv. 6.) Here, as 
Avill be perceived, God himself, to his servant Moses, 
claims- the possession of this attribute, as one of his 
distinguishing perfections. Then, again, we read that 
" God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the Son 
of Man, that he should repent. Hath he said, and 
shall he not do it ? or hath he spoken, and shall he 
not make it good?" (Num. xxiii. 19.) Then, too, 
we have that explicit testimony : " He is the Rock, 
his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment, a 
God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is 
he." (Deut. xxxii. 4.) Samuel, in his memorable 
interview with Saul, after the apostate king had for- 
feited the Divine favor, declared, " The Strength of 
Israel will not lie nor repent, for he is not a man that 
he should repent." (1 Sam. xv. 29.) The Psalmist 
declares, " The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring 
for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true, and 
righteous altogether." (Ps. xix. 9.) " Justice and 
judgment are the habitation of thy throne : mercy 
and truth shall go before thy face." (Ps. lxxxix. 14.) 
" For the Lord is good : his mercy is everlasting, 
and his truth endureth to all generations." (Ps. c. 



4°6 HBA VENL T LIGHT 

5.) " Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteous- 
ness, and thy law is truth" (Ps. cxix. 142.) Isaiah. 
declares, in one of his fervid direct appeals to God, 
" Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth." 
(Isa. xxv. 1.) And John, in apocalyptic vision, saw 
heaven opened, and heard " those who had gotten the 
victory over the beast, and over his image, and over 
his mark, and over the number of his name," singing 
the song of Moses and the Lamb, " saying, Great and 
marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty ; just 
and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints." (Rev. 
xv. 2, 3.) 

But this must suffice for the direct testimony from 
Scripture. It is fall and explicit. No perfection of 
the Divine nature is more frequently claimed as be- 
longing to God than this attribute of truth. Our 
argument, then, covering the whole ground is this : 
Eight reason demands that our God should be a God 
faithful and true. ISTo motive can be conceived of 
which could induce God to swerve from the utmost 
veracity and faithfulness. The fact that he is infi- 
nitely wise, holy, just and good renders his truth a 
necessity. The experience of the world in the fulfill- 
ment of his promises and threatenings demonstrates 
the existence of this perfection, and the plain and 
explicit statements of his Word place the matter 
beyond reasonable dispute. 

But all men are not reasonable, and hence some 
have raised objections to the views now presented; a 
few of which we notice : and, 

1. It has been alleged by infidels that there are 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 407 

statements in the Scriptures which, upon the suppo- 
sition that the Bible is true, would convict God of 
falsehood; and the declaration to our first parents is 
cited : " In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt 
surely die ;" and it is said this threat was not verified 
b}- the result. Because man did not die physically, 
therefore, it is alleged, this declaration is not true. 
Not to dwell upon the fact that this is the objection 
which the devil first raised, as it was this malignant 
spirit who first said, in opposition to God, "Thou shalt 
not surely die," we affirm that this declaration of the 
Almighty was truly fulfilled. Death, in its scriptural 
sense, is far from being a mere cessation of the physi- 
cal being. Man may die in a hundred senses, while 
he still retains his physical life. He may die to good- 
ness, to holiness, to charity, to pity, and to love. He 
may so change to-morrow from all that he is to-day, 
that we may justly say of him that he is dead to all 
his former self. Now this was strictly true of our 
first parents. By nature they were made in the image 
of God, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness. 
The moment they ate the forbidden fruit, that mo- 
ment they died to all this : they ceased to be the be- 
ings they were before. Is not this death ? But this 
is not all. Before the fall, our first parents were 
exempt from physical death. Had they remained 
sinless, their bodies would never have known disease 
or death. The moment, however, in which they 
sinned, that moment they lost their capacity for a 
changeless physical existence. They died that instant 
to the immortal life to which they were before the 



4°8 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

heirs. Disease was sown in their systems, and phy- 
sical death became inevitable. 

But more than this even : eternal life, in peace and 
happiness with God, was the inheritance of our first 
parents while sinless. To this glorious boon they 
died the moment they sinned ; from that moment 
they became subject to spiritual and eternal death. 
It is simply an exhibition, then, of a total ignorance 
of the real questions involved, to say that man did 
not die the very day he sinned. If the radical changes 
in his moral, physical, spiritual and eternal being 
which then took place were not death, we know not 
the meaning of the term. But, 

2. It is asked, "Are there not promises and threat, 
enings in Scripture which have never been fulfilled ? 
Did not God say to the Ninevites, by the mouth of 
his servant Jonah, 'Yet forty days, and Nineveh 
shall be overthrown,' and yet was not Nineveh pre- 
served, and did not Jonah himself manifest great 
disappointment that God did not verify his threaten- 
ings against the guilty city ?" 

This objection is based upon a failure to recognize 
one of the clearest distinctions between the different 
utterances of God in his Word. Some of his prom- 
ises and threatenings are conditional, and some un- 
conditional. When God said, " Yet forty days and 
Nineveh shall be overthrown," this sentence was 
evidently conditioned upon a continuance by the 
Ninevites in their sins. They, however, repented 
and turned to the Lord, and he spared them. Now 
this is true of many declarations of the Word. Thus 



FOR EARTHLY FIRESIDES. 



409 



God says, "The soul that sinnetli, it shall die;" but 
it is yet in entire consistency with this declaration 
that every soul that repents of its sin shall live. It 
is no impeachment of the divine truth that God has 
placed upon record many promises and threatenings 
which are conditional. This is explained by God 
himself, through Jeremiah : " At what instant I shall 
speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, 
to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it : if 
that nation against whom I have pronounced turn 
from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought 
to do unto them." The change here is not in God, 
"but in man. The veracity of God, in all these con- 
ditional promises, is pledged to their fulfillment only 
upon the contingency that man's conduct shall render 
it finally expedient. 

Many other objections of a similar nature have 
been raised, but they are all either misapprehensions 
of the truth revealed, or they are based upon igno- 
rance touching the plan of the Divine operations. 
God must be true, let our misconceptions be what they 
may. 

And now, in conclusion, consider, 

1. How full of comfort is this view of the Divine 
character, to all who really desire to live Christian 
lives. As God is a God of truth, all such may rely 
implicitly upon his assistance. He has promised to 
aid them. He has declared that he will be with 
them always ; that his strength shall be made perfect 
in their weakness, and that " all things shall work 
together for their good." How comforting all this ! 



4 1 ° HEA VENL T LIGHT, ETC. 

Then, too, when death draws nigh, this great, and 
good, and faithful God, has promised to be near his 
children. They shall not be left in despair ; the 
waves of Jordan shall not overflow thern. And then 
heyond and after death, heaven is promised to them 
by a God iv7w can not lie. In Christ Jesus, all the 
promises to Christians for time and eternity, become 
theirs, and this God of truth will verify them. What 
an unspeakably precious thought is this ! But, 

2. How terrible must it be to th« impenitent, to 
remember that this God of truth has declared that 
he who believeth not in Jesus Christ shall be damned/ 
that those who live and die out of Christ " shall go 
away into everlasting punishment." If these words 
had been uttered by a mere man, or by an angel, 
they might not be true. But God is their author, 
and his verity can not be doubted. O impenitent 
reader ! remember that it is a God of absolute 
truth, who has said, " The wicked shall be turned 
into hell, with all the nations that forget God." Are 
you among the wicked ? Do you forget God ? O 
ponder those terrible words, and think who it is that 
utters them. It is 

GOD, 

WHO IS A SPIRIT, 

INFINITE, ETERNAL, AND 

UNCHANGEABLE IN HIS BEING, 

KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM, POWER, HOLINESS, 

JUSTICE, GOODNESS, AND 

TRUTH. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



" Let waves and thunders mix and roar, 

Be thou my Lord, and the whole world's mine ; 
While thou art sovereign, I'm secure ; 

I shall be rich till thou art poor; 
For all I fear, and all I wish — heaven, earth and hell — are thine." 

Watts. 

"Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?" — Matt. 

xx. 15. 



Having finished the consideration of the Divine 
perfections in the last chapter, we turn, in this, to 
the discussion of a doctrine which has occasioned no 
little controversy in the religious world : namely, 

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 

One would think that all men must concede that 
a being ijijinite in his knowledge, wisdom, power, 
holiness, justice, goodness, and truth • the creator of 
all things, and the upholder of all that he has created, 
is necessarily sovereign ; that all things, animate and 
inanimate, must be subject to his will. And yet this 
proposition, reasonable though it appears, has by 
some been doubted, and by others flatly denied. In 



4 12 HEAVENLY LIGHT 

discussing it, therefore, we have not entered upon a 
work of supererogation. 

I. Let us, then, at the beginning, inquire what is 
meant by the sovereignty of God. 

This doctrine, as taught in Scripture, and received 
by Christians, is, that God, as the self-existent, eternal, 
unchangeable, and almighty Jehovah, orders, guides, 
controls and governs all the affairs of the universe, in 
accordance with the independent suggestions of his 
own righteous will. This, however, is not done in 
the exercise of an arbitrary authority, as that word 
arbitrary is usually construed, for God, by reason of 
his holiness, justice, and goodness, can will only that 
which, on the whole, is right and good in itself, 
which promotes his own glory, and the highest and 
best interests of all his creatures. 

It would seem that no reasonable person ought to 
complain of the exercise of such a sovereignty by 
such a Being. And now, 

II. What proof have we that God does exercise this 
sovereignty f 

1. Let it be considered that a very strong presump- 
tion is raised in favor of this doctrine,by tlie fact that 
all men in every age, whether savage, civilized, or 
enlightened, have recognized tlie necessity of a sovereign 
poiver in the universe. Almost all the heathen 
nations of the old world, with the aborigines of the 
neio, have ascribed to their respective deities, supreme 
authority. Among some pagan nations of antiquity, 
we find, it is true, that certain philosophers contended 
for something which they called destiny, or fate, 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 4 1 3 

which they supposed to exercise an authority superior 
even to the gods ; a something to which even their 
chief deities were subject; hut the vast majority 
have always ascribed supreme authority and power to 
the Deity himself, from whose will there could be no 
appeal. 

Whatever objections therefore may be raised 
against the doctrine of God's sovereignty, as revealed 
in Scripture and received by Christians, they are seen 
to be entertained in the face of the remarkable fact 
that the judgments of men in all ages have conceded 
the necessity of such an authority, and have almost 
universally traced it to their supreme Deity. All 
men in every age — the learned and unlearned — 
have admitted the existence of the thing itself. A 
presumption is thus created in favor of the Bible 
teaching which refers this sovereignty to the only 
living and true God. Then, 

2. Proofs of this sovereignty are clearly seen in 
certain undeniable facts of existence. 

They are discovered in connection with the birth 
of every human being. Who determines the circum- 
stances which attend man's entrance upon life ? Who 
fixes the time or place of his birth ? Whose will 
directs that one should be born in Europe, another 
in Asia, another in Africa, and another in America ? 
Who determines that one should be born a prince, 
surrounded with all the pomp, the pride, the wealth, 
the luxury, of a regal palace, and that another 
should be ushered into life a beggar, with all the 
concomitants of discomfort, of poverty, and of want ? 



4 1 4 HE A VENL r LIGHT 

Who decrees that one should be born in heathen 
lands, with no example before him but the degrading 
and debasing superstitions of paganism, while another 
is ushered into life in the bosom of a Christian 
family, and with all the blessed surroundings of an 
enlightened Christian home ? Are there not in all 
such cases the clear and undeniable indications of a 
sovereign power, directing, controlling, and govern- 
ing ; and is it not in entire accord with enlightened 
reason to hold that this power is lodged with him 
who is the author of our being ? 

So, too, in the time, place, and circumstances of 
our death, do we see the same truth clearly indicated. 
"Who fixes these ? Who orders how. and when, and 
where, men shall leave the world ? Is it not unde- 
niable that the circumstances attending our exit from 
life, as well as those which mark our entrance upon 
it, are wholly beyond our control, and that they 
furnish unmistakable proof of a power absolutely 
sovereign ? And to whom does the exercise of this 
sovereignty belong, if not to God ? Shall we refer 
it to man ? Evidently not ; for how few, in that 
case, would ever die. Shall it be referred to angels? 
Certainly not ; for neither reason nor revelation 
teaches that issues so solemn are ever referred for 
settlement to angelic beings. With God alone rests 
the sovereignty here ; with him who sees the end 
from the beginning, and with whom alone are the 
issues of life and death. But, 

3. In almost every hour of life, and in every 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 4 1 5 

department of duty, we meet with evidence of this 
sovereignty. 

Deny as we may, that God exercises this power ; 
call it "destiny" or "fate" or "fortune" or "chance" 
still tlie fact remains. There is an actual power, 
whose grasp is upon us, against which we find it 
impossible to contend, and before which nothing is 
left us but to bow in implicit obedience. 

Is this questioned ? Look at the agriculturalist. 
He prepares his fields with all the care and skill 
known to him. His best seed is sown in the best 
possible manner. He does all that man can do, and 
then awaits the issue. For a time it promises well ; 
the appearances are favorable, and indicate a boun- 
tiful harvest. But lo ! in a moment least expected, 
the blight comes down ; the frost, the mildew, or the 
rust, smites the tender grain, and barrenness frowns 
where but yesterday abundance smiled. What now 
is to be done ? Will the disappointed husbandman 
appeal ? Will he protest ? Will he demand redress ? 
"Appeal," "protest," "redress" — these words have 
here no significancy. The man has met, face to face, 
with absolute power, and he feels it. He may seek 
to disguise his convictions by talking learnedly of 
secondary agencies, by saying that this or that was 
the cause of his calamity ; by calling it chance, or 
luck, or fate ; by alleging that it was due to some 
unfortunate concurrence of nature's laws ; but after 
all, there it is, a naked, palpable, unmasked sove- 
reignty, which can not be ignored, and from which 
there is no appeal. 



4 1 6 HE A VBNL T LIGHT 

In like manner the merchant builds and equips a 
vessel for some distant port. He selects with the 
utmost care every stick of timber, every yard of ca-n- 
vas, every mast and spar, every bolt and bar. The 
officers and crew are the most reliable that can be 
secured ; and with all these precautions he sends her 
forth upon her mission, saying, " I have done all that 
man can do to insure her safety." In a few weeks a 
letter reaches him, announcing that, overtaken by a 
terrific storm, his noble bark was driven upon the 
rocks, and now lies upon the bottom of the ocean, a 
total wreck. What can he do ? Will it avail him 
to complain of the winds and the waves ? Will it 
redeem his loss to protest against the destructive 
force of storms ? Will it set his vessel afloat again 
to denounce the ocean's hidden rocks ? No, no ! All 
this is vain. The merchant has simply met a power 
superior to man's — a power, call it what he will, 
which he feels to be absolutely beyond his control — 
a power which, so far as man is concerned, is unquali- 
fied and absolute. The Bible calls it sovereignty, and 
in entire accordance with right reason, refers its exer- 
cise to God. 

Or, look at such a case as this: Here, if you 
please, is an infidel. He is learned in all the arts 
and sciences. Dreading death as only an infidel can, 
he has made the science of medicine his special study. 
He has become familiar with diseases in all their 
forms. He has at hand, and ready for instant use, 
all the leading remedies known to the healing art. 
He has watched with constant care over the health 






FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 4 1 7 

of Lis children, and thinks that he is able to grapple 
successfully with death, let it come in whatever guise 
it may. 

At length he is aroused at the still midnight hour 
by an ominous cough — sharp, hard, spasmodic, which 
rings with a dreadful distinctness through his man- 
sion. He springs from his couch and rushes to the 
nursery. In an instant his eye takes in the extent of 
his danger. It is his favorite child — that loving, 
lovely lad, just blooming into boyhood. How sharp 
the pang which shoots through the strong man's 
heart as he grasps the struggling sufferer in his arms ! 
With what intense eagerness does he ply his skill ! 
How anxiously he watches the effect of his remedies ! 
How piteously does he appeal to others to aid him 
in his efforts to save his boy ! How quickly he 
gathers other physicians as counselors, and in tones 
which would melt the heart of a stone, entreats them 
to save his darling ! But alas ! it is all in vain ! His 
efforts — his entreaties — his appeals — his prayers — 
his tears are powerless. The inexorable decree has 
gone forth, and can not be recalled. As the faint 
light of the morning sun creeps in upon the scene, 
you behold that father bending in helpless agony 
over his lifeless clay, his whole frame convulsed with 
the intensity of his grief, and his soul shaken to its 
lowest depths with the agony of despair. In vain 
does he tear his hair and smite upon his breast, and 
call upon death to relieve him of his anguish. In 
vain does he protest against the terrible blow which 
has befallen him. His ravings are as idle as his 
27 



4 x 8 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

efforts to save his child were unavailing. He stands 
weak and helpless in the presence of a power, call it 
what you will, which is supreme. He has met with 
Soveebignty in one of its manifestations, and has 
been compelled to yield to its irresistible mandate. 

And just such facts as these occur continually. 
Experience brings men into contact with Sovereign 
power with irresistible might, almost every day of 
their lives. How strange that in Christian lands this 
should be referred to any other source than to the 
Almighty God ! But, 

4. We have the most emphatic teachings of the in- 
fallible Word, that this Sovereignty is in God. Take 
such passages as these : " He is of one mind, and 
who can turn him ? and what his soul desireth, even 
that he doeth." (Job xxiii. 13.) " Why dost thou 
strive against him ? for he giveth not account of any 
of his matters." (Job xxxiii. 13.) " Our God is in 
the heavens : he hath done whatsoever he pleased." 
(Ps. cxv. 3.) " Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that 
did he in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all 
deep places." (Ps. cxxxv. 6.) "For as the rain 
cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and return- 
eth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh 
it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the 
sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be 
that goeth forth out of my mouth : it shall not return 
unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I 
please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I 
sent it." (Isa. lv. 10.) " And all the inhabitants 
of the earth are reputed as nothing ; and he doeth 



FOR EAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 4 1 9 

according to his will in the army of heaven, and 
among the inhabitants of the earth : and none can 
stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou ?" 
(Dan/iv. 35.) 

Lest, however, it should be said that these are the 
sentiments of an early and comparatively unenlight- 
ened age, let the reader consider the following 
emphatic utterances from the New Testament Scrip- 
tures : " For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on 
whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion 
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not 
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of 
God that showeth mercy ; for the Scriptures saith 
unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I 
raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, 
and that my name might be declared throughout all 
the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he 
will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." 
(Rom. ix. 15.) " In whom also we have obtained 
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the 
purpose of him who worketh all things after the 
counsel of his own will." (Eph. i. 11.) "For it is 
God which worketh in you, both to will and to do 
of his good pleasure." (Phil. ii. 13.) 

Are not these quotations full, clear, and explicit ? 
Remembering that the Bible is given by inspiration, 
and that all its utterances are infallible, can we ask 
other evidence to prove God's absolute Sovereignty t 
Surely this would seem to be sufficient. 

4. Since, now, reason, experience, and revelation, 
all consmre to teach that this sovereignty exists, it 



4 2 ° HBA VENL r LIGHT 

is a most comforting thought that it is lodged with 
God. 

A moment's reflection upon the character of Jeho- 
vah will convince any reasonable person that the 
world has nothing to fear from his exercise of abso- 
lute power. Unlimited and unrestricted authority is 
dangerous only, 

1. When the person who possesses it is ignorant • 
for then, though not designing it, he may, through 
ignorance, commit wrong and be guilty of oppression. 
Or, 

2. When malice actuates the heart ; for then, one 
will be certain to do wrong, in response to his 
vindictive feelings. Or, 

3. When partiality controls the actions ; for then, 
one will neglect the deserving to favor his friends, 
whether worthy or unworthy. 

But it is evident that nothing of this character 
can be apprehended in the case before us. God is 
infinite in his knowledge and wisdom ; so that in his 
sovereign decisions touching any human interest, he 
can not err through ignorance. He is infinite in his 
justice and equity, and can, therefore, never be actu- 
ated by malice or revenge. He is also infinite in his 
mercy and his love, and can never be swerved from 
the strictest righteousness by any undue bias or 
partiality. Viewed, indeed, in whatever light, the 
perfect character of God gives assurance to all, that 
in the exercise of his sovereign power there can 
never be the slightest deviation from right. He 
rules supreme, but he rules in righteousness. He is 






FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 421 

King of kings and Lord of lords ; but a King of 
infinite holiness, of absolute purity, and matchless 
love. 

Since, then, sovereignty exists ; since it has a place 
some where in the universe ; since we hnoiv ourselves 
to be subject to such a power, should it not be to us a 
matter of supreme satisfaction to find that the infalli- 
ble Word ascribes the sole exercise of this power to 
one 

" TOO WISE TO ERR J TOO GOOD TO BE UNKIND ?" 

If Scripture referred this supreme authority and 
power to any created being, however glorious, we 
might have some reason for rebelling against the 
teaching. As it is, we have positively no ground of 
complaint ; and every intelligent creature should, 
with a glad outburst of holy joy, cry, with the 
Psalmist, " The Lord reigneth ; let the earth 

REJOICE ; LET THE MULTITUDE OF THE ISLES BE GLAD 
THEREOF." 

5. And now, where lies the real difficulty in this 
matter ? Why is not God's sovereignty at once and 
universally conceded ? Why are any found to ques- 
tion it ? If, as we have seen, this supreme authority 
exists some where ; and if the best and safest place 
for it is the bosom of a God infinitely holy, just, and 
good, why is not the world contented ? 

Two classes of persons are found in rebellion, 
against the Bible doctrine of God's absolute sove- 
reignty : 

1. The first class is composed of the unregenerate. 



4 2 2 HE A VENL T LIGHT 

With these, the difficulty is radical. It is found in 
the unrenewed carnal heart, which is " enmity against 
God" and which cherishes a special repugnance to 
the doctrine of Divine sovereignty. Pride, which is a 
leading characteristic of the human soul by nature, 
is arrayed in a relentless hostility against God's 
supreme authority. It would hurl him from the 
throne of universal dominion if it possessed the 
power. For this malignant disposition there is no 
cure save in a radical change of nature. The Holy 
Ghost must open the eyes of persons of this class, 
and effect within them the new birth. They must 
become new creatures in Christ ; then, and then only, 
will they admit, that God " doeth according to his 
will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabit- 
ants of the earth ; and none can stay his hand, or 
say unto him, what doest thou." But, 

2. Many prof essors of religion refuse to accept tins 
doctrine of God's absolute sovereignty. Their diffi- 
culty is to be traced chiefly to the mistaken idea, 
that Divine sovereignty encroaches upon man's free- 
dom, destroys his accountability, and reduces him to 
the condition of a mere machine. 

This objection, it is hardly needful to affirm, has 
its rise in ignorance. Did these persons read the 
Scriptures aright, they would learn that God can 
exercise an absolute sovereignty without in the least 
infringing upon man's proper freedom as a moral 
and accountable creature. How this can be, the 
Bible does not condescend to inform us ; and if it 
did, it is doubtful if we could comprehend the matter 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 423 

with our finite capacities ; but that this is the fact, 
that God can and does act, as the sovereign, without 
in the least intrenching upon man's responsibility, is 
one of the plainest teachings of the inspired volume. 

Does the reader ask for proof ? Take the case of 
Joseph, sold by his evil-minded brothers into Egyp- 
tian bondage. Those brethren, in this transaction, 
were as free as it is possible for men to be. They 
recognized alone their own voluntary choice. They 
acted freely, and they acted sinfully, and yet Joseph 
could truly say, " God sent me before you to preserve 
a posterity in the earth, and to save } r our lives by a 
great deliverance. So now it ivas not you that sent 
me hither, but God." (Genesis xlv. 7, 8.) Here is 
certainly the free and voluntary agency of man, and 
at the same time the absolute sovereignty of God, 
and the one entirely consistent with the other, whether 
we can see it or not. 

Another remarkable proof is found in the case of 
Balaam, that covetous prophet who was employed 
by Balak, king of the Moabites, to curse the children 
of Israel. This groveling man, though forbidden 
by the Almighty, was anxious to pour out anathemas 
upon the chosen people, and yet in every attempt he 
made, blessings alone flowed from his lips. So far as 
we can judge, from the record found in the 23rd 
chapter of Numbers, this was only a marked in- 
stance of God's sovereignty, exercised in producing 
good where man had intended evil / and this result 
was secured in entire consistency with Balaam's 
moral freedom. The wicked prophet recognized no 



4 2 4 HEA VENL T LIGHT 

physical restraint. He was led by a subtile and 
mysterious influence to do the will of God, while in 
his inmost soul desiring to comply with Balak's 
sinful wishes. This is but another instance of the 
ability of God to make " the wrath of man to praise 
him." 

We have another signal exhibition of the exercise 
of this sovereignty in consistency with man's freedom 
in the life of Cyrus, the distinguished Medo-Persian 
prince, whom God called by his name nearly two 
hundred years before his birth, and who, though a 
heathen, was used, during his whole life, by the 
Almighty, to further his great designs of mercy 
toward his chosen people. Cyrus was a heathen and 
an idolater ; knew nothing of the true God, and 
acted all his lifetime as though no such being existed. 
Still, his conduct was so overruled that he became 
the deliverer of Israel, in exact accordance with, 
prophecies placed upon record hundreds of years 
before. How was it that Cyrus did exactly what 
God wished should be done, while acting always 
according to the suggestions of his oiun unshackled 
will f There is no answer to this question, except 
what is found in the statement that God can be 
sovereign, without in the least trampling upon man's 
proper freedom. Indeed, the fulfillment of all the 
prophecies of the sacred Word affords evidence over- 
whelming upon this point. Men always act freely ; 
and yet they are so guided that they accomplish the 
will of him who " sees the end from the beginning." 

The reader will not forget, in this connection, the 



FOR BAR THL Y FIRESIDES. 425 

declaration of Peter touching the death of Christ : 
"Him being delivered by the determinate counsel 
and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and with 
wicked hands have crucified and slaiu." (Acts ii. 
23.) How manifest here those two things — God's 
sovereignty, and maris freedom? The words, u him 
being delivered by the determinate counsel and fore- 
knowledge of God" declare the participation of 
Jehovah in this event ; and the words, " ye have 
taken, and ivith ivicJced hands have crucified and 
slain" show the free and unforced act of man in 
bringing- Christ to the cross. Those Jews who 
crucified the Saviour were guilty. They laid " ivicked 
hands " upon him, and yet he was " delivered by the 
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God." 
However difficult it may be to comprehend, with our 
finite capacities, a mystery so profound, it is certainly 
clear that God's sovereignty can be, and is, exercised 
in entire harmony with man's freedom. To the same 
effect, might be quoted Paul's advice to the Philip- 
pian Christians : " "Work out your own salvation 
with fear and trembling, for it is God who worketh 
in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure." 
Here, on the one hand, is God's sovereignty ; he 
works in the hearts of Christians, " both to will and 
to do." On the other hand, man's freedom and full 
responsibility are recognized in the command, " Work 
out your own salvation." With just such teachings 
as these the Bible is filled. It reveals a God of 
sovereign power and authority, exercising absolute 
rule throughout the universe, and yet never failing 



4 2 6 HEA VBNL T LIGHT 

to enforce man's fall responsibility. In the exercise 
of this sovereignty in such a way as to comport with 
man's free agency, God proves himself a being u Glo- 
rious in 7ioliness, fearful in praises, doing wonders." 

And now we are done. We have fulfilled the 
purpose with which we entered upon the preparation 
of these pages. We have contemplated God, in his 
existence, in his triune personality, in his glorious 
attributes, and in the exercise of his sovereign power. 
We have seen why we believe that the Scriptures, as 
we have them, are the Word of God, the only infalli- 
ble rule of faith and practice. We have studied the 
character of Christ, in all its beauty and perfection, 
and have pondered the person and work of the Holy 
Spirit, as the third person in the Trinity, the vice- 
gerent of Deity in the accomplishment of the Divine 
purposes in providence and in grace. What themes 
are these ! How elevating ! how ennobling the 
thoughts to which the mind has now been directed ! 
If the study of works of art, and the contemplation of 
the beautiful and sublime in nature, tend to refine 
and purify, how should the careful contemplation of 
these Divine themes draw our souls away from the 
low and groveling conceptions of earth which tend 
to debase and destroy, and fix them immovably upon 
the sanctifying and satisfying joys of heaven ! 

Reader, we part ; but we shall meet again. In 
that day, " when the elements shall melt with fervent 
heat," " when the heavens shall be rolled together as 
a scroll," when Christ shall appear " to judge the 
world in righteousness," when the "great white 



FOR EAR THL T FIRESIDES. 4*7 

throne" shall be erected, when the sea shall give up its 
dead, and all men, small and great, be judged accord- 
ing to the deeds done in the body whether they be 
good or evil, then we shall meet. What will be the 
character of that meeting ? Will you, despite the 
counsels, the warnings, the injunctions, the teach- 
ings here presented, be found, in that dread hour, 
unsaved? Will you, in that day, be placed on the 
left hand of the Judge, in that vast throng of hypo- 
crites and unbelievers, to hear your doom in those 
awful words, u Depart from me ye cursed, into ever- 
lasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels f" 
God forbid. This heed not be. Jesus waits to be 
gracious. In tones of sweetest love, he cries, " Come 
unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I 
will give you rest." Believe, only believe, and you 
shall live. Take to your heart that gracious declara- 
tion which stands like a sun of hope and joy upon 
the eternal page, throwing its beams across the ages : 
u Go d so loved the ivorld that he gave his only begotten 
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not 
perish, but have everlasting liee." 

Reader, farewell. 

May "the God of peace, that brought again 

FROM THE DEAD OUR LORD JESUS, THAT GREAT ShEP- 

herd of the sheep, through the blood of the 
everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every 
good work to do his will, working in you that 
which is well pleasing in his sight through 
Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and 

EVER, 

AMEN." 






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